Operation Jade
by Starlight-Sunshine
Summary: All she was for turned out to be a slave for the Score. But her existence also swayed the world away from the Score. Lina, a mercenary who bumped into her friend in Chesedonia, winds up joining him to save the world. Will they? JadexOC LukexTear AnisexIon
1. Part 1: Making Acquaintances

**Part 1: Making Acquaintances **

"Damn desert…."

This was mumbled by a mercenary. She was walking through the desert, looking for something. Her canteen had ran out of water, though she kept moving, hoping to reach Chesedonia by the end of the day, and search the next day. She kept walking, and then stumbled along something, when Chesedonia was just in view. She fell. Tripped on a sword, to be specific. She inspected it.

"……Could this be what I'm looking for?" She asked herself. Then she checked the paper she had, and indeed, this was what she was looking for. She pulled the sword out of the ground and took it with her, heading to the town to see her client.

It was when she reached it inn, after receiving her pay from the client was when she noticed someone familiar. She stared at a tall man, wearing what seemed to be army uniform and had long light brown hair. He was with a red headed boy, a long brown haired girl, a girl with black pigtails and a man with short blonde hair. She stood there, thinking until she knew who it was.

"Jade?" She said. The man turned around. He looked at her for a minute and then walked up to her.

"Do I know you?" He asked. The woman in her late twenties smiled.

"I hope you do remember me, Jade. I remember that His Majesty used to give you a horrendous nickname." She said, sighing then smirking. That's when Jade twitched a little.

"His Majesty….wait…." He said, thinking. The other just looked at him as if he was crazy.

"If I recall correctly, I'm pretty sure Nephry and His Majesty used to call you Jadey Jadey, except now His Majesty calls you non-cute Jade." The lady said, smirking. The others started to laugh, and Jade just chuckled.

"Now I remember. You're Lina." He said. The woman nodded and grinned, holding onto her mace loosely.

"Who's she?" The red head boy asked as he pointed to the woman. Tear had slapped his hand, even though she knew what that meant. Jade, who took no notice, turned around and smirked.

"She's—" Jade started, but Lina stopped him, just in time.

"I'm sorry, Jade. I don't need you to introduce me. I'm not that stupid, nor am I old and slow. My name is Lina Feldesca. I used to serve House Curtiss, but now I'm just a mercenary."

"Feldesca….where have I heard that…." The blonde haired man said. Lina gasped, when she noticed something.

"….Is your name by any chance Guy Cecil?" Lina said walking up to Guy.

Cue the awkwardness.

"GAHHH!" He shouted, stepping back.

"Well, Guy. You seem popular. I know you're enjoying yourself Guy, but we really must be going back to our rooms to rest." Jade said, chuckling slightly.

"May I speak to you Guy, in private?" Lina asked. Guy shivered, but then nodded, the two walking to the other room. Once Lina shut the door to the private guest room, they both sat down on the couch.

"Is your real name Gailardia Galan Gardios?" She asked. Guy's eyes opened like saucers, but he nodded. Strangely, his gynophobia didn't really affect Lina as much as other girls. Lina sighed and then smiled. She walked up to him and hugged him.

"Nice to find you, cousin." She said.

Now, cue the 'What?' situation.

"WHAT!" Guy shouted. She managed to shush him down to a reasonable level, but not enough, unfortunately. Someone had knocked on the door, in which Lina allowed to come in. In walked Jade and Luke, the red headed boy, who had concerned faces.

"What happened?" Luke asked. Lina shook her head.

"Nothing." Though it seemed like Jade never bought it. Her face said, 'I'll tell you later' and he nodded slightly, signalling Luke to go.

"You're mother was my mother's sister." She said.

"No wonder why Feldesca was familiar."

"What…what happened to Karima?" She asked. Guy's head jerked violently, but answered truthfully.

"He…he died…saving me…from Duke Fabre…." Guy stammered. She jerked, and then started to cry. She got up and walked to the door, exiting and went to the counter, getting a room and going there. Jade, who saw her face was dead worried, so he followed her.

* * *

Lina entered her room and sat on the bed, crying. She hugged her knees and started to shiver. All those years of horrible emotions, going out in a few minutes. She subconsciously heard someone knock on her door.

"Come…come in."

Cue Jade walking in.

Jade strolled in and instinctively ran to her, hugging her.

"What's wrong, Lina?" He asked. She sniffed and looked up.

"My…my brother…he died, and no one told me!" She shouted. Now, Jade was used to her outbursts, but he smiled.

"Oh dear, oh dear…" He said, still smiling and in a really un-Jade like tone, though using Jade-like words. Lina stopped crying after a long five minutes and let go of Jade.

"Where are you going?" She asked, referring to Jade's trip.

"We're going to Baticul. We're getting a peace treaty from the King. Let me guess, you want to come?" She said, with a sigh, smile disappearing. She nodded.

"That's fine with me, but you better ask Luke." What was actually going through Jade's mind was actually the fact that he wanted her to come, for two reasons. One, he could talk to someone around his age, and two, he could talk to someone he loved and still loves.

"Who's Luke?" Lina asked. Jade, yet again, chuckled.

"The red headed boy you met." He said, as he got his handkerchief and wiped away her tears. She nodded and walked out, and somehow forgot to ask Jade where he was. Though it didn't matter, since she bumped into the boy.

"Excuse me? Is your name Luke?" She asked. The boy turned around and nodded.

"I would like to join your group."

"Whatever. As long as I get to go home soon." Lina nodded and walked away, not really annoyed at the aristocrat's attitude. She walked back to her room and gave Jade the thumbs up. He smiled in true happiness.

"Let me go introduce you to everyone." He said, as he gently dragged her to the next room.

"Tear? Anise? Are you there?" He asked. The two girls lying on their beds turned around.

"Tear, Anise. Lina's joining us." Jade said, in the 'I'm telling the truth' tone.

"Hello, Lina. My name's Tear Grants."

"Hi! I'm Anise!" Well, nice to meet you, Miss I-like-to-state-the-obvious. That was the first thing Lina thought of.

They both left and walked back to Lina's room.

"Well, since you already know Luke fon Fabre, and Guy Cecil, there is no need tell you anyone else."

"Isn't there another person?" Lina asked.

"Yeah, I almost forgot. Follow me." And she followed him a few rooms to her right. Jade knocked on the door. Someone opened it, and Lina knew who it was, immediately.

"Fon Master Ion. Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Lina Feldesca." Lina said, bowing.

"Hello, Lina. You may just call me Ion."

"If you wish." And the two of them, Jade and Lina, left.

"What's with the bowing?" Jade asked, as they walked.

"I see you talk more than you used to." Lina said, changing subject, not really wanting to tell Jade the reason why.

"I said, what's with the bowing?" Jade asked, calmly, keeping his demeanour.

"……Your father's rubbed off on me. I'm too used to it, Young Master Curtiss." She said, bowing.

"Please, call me Jade…..or Jadey Jadey. Just not…Young Master Curtiss." She smirked, as Jade sighed.

"Yes, Young Master Jadey Jadey Curtiss" And after that, they walked in silence.

Everyone went to bed and awoke to a nice morning. They all left Chesedonia, boarding a ship to go to Baticul. Lina was thankful that Jade didn't ask about the conversation that she had with Guy, since she made him forget, for a certain amount of time. Speaking of the word 'certain'….. What they, as in the group, didn't know was that they were being watched by a certain group.

* * *

Me: I felt bored...so I started a Tales of the Abyss fanfic....since I just finished the game, the anime and the manga on one day.

Luke: What's anime and manga?

Me: What are you doing here?

Tear: He walked into the studio and....

Me: Shush! Just say the disclaimer and stuff.

Tear: She doesn't own TotA or anything mentioned that belongs to the real world, their companies. She only owns Lina. Please review, though she doesn't want me to beg.

Me: .......LUKE! What did you make Tear do?

Luke: ......damn!

Tear: Oh dear me...should I sing a fonic hymn?

Jade: No.

Me: Jade? Go back to studio thirty--

Jade: They told me to go here.

Tear: Let's drop off here.....they will be talking for a while.


	2. Part 2: From Baticul to Grand Chokmah!

**Part 2: From Baticul To Grand Chokmah!**

On the ship, almost everyone was tolerant…. Almost. The only one who wasn't was not surprisingly Luke, who complained that everything wasn't rich or 'his' way at life. Lina, Tear and Anise were standing on the deck, staring at the sea. In a matter of hours, she became the advisor for the girls, already. Right now, she was talking to Ion, who was also on the deck about how to preserve energy.

"You know, Ion. You don't have to do what Luke says, all of the time."

"I know. It's just… he has this aura telling me that I have to."

"You know, if he forces you into doing something, I'll smack him silly."

"Smack..?"

"Yep. I've had practice with Jade."

"The Colonel?"

"I don't think he would want me spilling his secrets. He will do something to me if I do." Lina said, and smiled. The Fon Master did the same thing and they both just stared at the sea.

_**Lina had received the **__**All Girls Advisor**__** title! All of the girl speak to her for advice instead of Jade.**_

Soon later, they got off the port at Baticul. Lina, tossed her black hair, since she really didn't like it being in the way, though she didn't dare tie it and started to walk with the group until they got to the castle.

"Ah, I'm am soo glad to see you safe to the kingdom." Everyone turned around to the voice.

"And you are…?" Lina asked, not liking the situation she was in already.

"My apologies. I'm Kimlasca-Lanvaldear Army's First Division General Goldberg. We received word from Count Almendian. It said that there were emissaries of peace with you."

"Yes."

"I'm Fon Master Ion of the Order of Lorelei, and I have a letter of peace from Malkuth's Emperor Peony the Ninth. Could you by any chance send a word to King Ingobert the VI" Ion said, moving Luke aside.

"Yes. Shall I get General Cecille to escort you?" The lady standing next to Goldberg stood up straight and saluted.

"Please."

"I'm…I'm Guy."

"I'm Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants, First Platoon Oracle Knights Intelligence Division."

"Ionian Sergeant Anise Tatlin. Oracle Knights Fon Master Guard."

"Colonel Jade Curtiss, commander of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. I represent His Imperial Majesty"

"You're the Jade Curtiss?"

"Oh, General Cecille. I see that your troops taught me a painful lesson." Jade said, pushing his glasses up.

"What? Your troops wiped my out totally."

"………..ummm…" Lina said.

"……………….." She hesitated, knowing if she gave out her real identity, it would be dangerous.

"Will you introduce yourself, ma'am?" Goldburg asked. Lina snapped out of her daze.

"I'm sorry. I'm Lina Feldesca of House Feldesca. I'm here to ask His Majesty about something that concerns my parents." She brushed the long-sleeved civilian shirt she was wearing

"House Feldesca in the Malkuth Empire?"

"Yes. Everyone thinks I'm dead. Please do not inform anyone of my arrival." She said, as she took off her wig. Everyone gasped, except for Jade who shook his head. Her light brown hair, waved in the wind and she placed her glasses back on.

"Well then, as I said General Cecille will escort you to the Manor."

"Hold on. Ion asked me to talk to Uncle on his behalf."

"Luke…"

"Well, it seems that you actually have some responsibility" Tear said.

"oh…yeah."

"Well then, I should get General Cecille to send a message to Duke Fabre." And after that, they left. They bumped into a group who was called The Dark Wings, but reluctantly did nothing about them, since they were in a hurry to have an audience with His Majesty.

It was then that Jade noticed Lina was shaking like mad.

"Is something the matter?" He asked, as everyone stopped in front of the Fabre Manor.

"……..it's nothing" She said as the thought crossed her mind. Everyone, except the Colonel of course though he didn't mention it, took no notice of it and kept walking. Once they got inside the castle and to the door of the Audience Hall, there was a guard there.

"His Majesty is in the middle of an important meeting, please come back later."

"I'm Luke fon Fabre. My father, Duke Fabre will fire you." And they went inside.

After a conversation with the King, everyone, save Lina and Jade who opted out, since Lina had to see His Majesty by herself and Jade just didn't want to go, went to the Fabre Manor.

"Are you sure, Lina, Jade?" Guy asked. They both shook their heads.

"My deepest apologies. I must see His Majesty alone." Lina said, face all in deep regret.

"I need to get a few things. I'll see you later." Jade said. Everyone parted ways.

Lina, who was still in the castle, was told that the King would see her. The guards opened the door and the King and Alpine were standing there.

"Hello, Your Majesty."

"And who are you? I saw you with Luke."

"My deepest apologises. I'm Lina. Lina Feldesca of House Feldesca." She said.

"But…but that's not possible. She's dead." Lina sighed and took off her wig.

"I escaped a few days before my parent's attack. I escaped to another place. I'm so sorry for causing a commotion, Your Majesty." She said, bowing. She put the wig back on and took her glasses off, which she was still wearing into the castle.

"I would like to ask a question concerning my parents."

"What is it, Lady Lina?"

"Please, call my Lina. I am no longer a Lady. Everyone thinks I'm dead. Please do not inform anyone about my existence. I shall inform the Malkuth Emperor later."

"…..Very well."

"Was it Kimlasca who attacked my family home?"

"According to our reports, it wasn't Malkuth and I could swear to Lorelei and Yulia it wasn't us."

"……I'm sorry for disturbing you, Your Majesty."

"It isn't a problem. I'm just happy to see you alive. Shall I notify your parents, however?"

"If it isn't a problem, you may. Please inform them I shall be visiting them in the near future" And she left, after bowing. She found Jade standing outside, at the bottom of the stairs.

"Why are you still here?" Lina asked, scratching her head.

"I'm here because I want to ask something, Lady Lina."

"………you must've heard my conversation, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Jade……. you really do not learn, do you?" She smirked.

"No. Well, I got a carrier pigeon from the Emperor. He would like to see me, and I was wondering if you want to come with me to see him and your parents."

"What about Luke and company?"

"I asked them before, and they agreed, though we are to meet them later on."

"Fine. Do we leave now?"

"Yes. As I've heard, there are no Oracle Knight boats out there, so if we get one now, we can rest at Chesedonia."

"I'll go." And they left.

_**Lina received the **__**Lady Lina**__** title! She's the Lady of House Feldesca, though she doesn't want anyone to know!**_

* * *

The ride from Chesedonia by ship was empty, though it was the last ride of the night, so that made sense. Both of the two agreed to rest there for the night. It was agreed that Lina was not to use her social status until she has met her parents after an eleven year disappearance and the Emperor, one of her best friends that she didn't really remember too much, though she knew it was him.

"Well, good night, Lady Lina."

"I swear, you don't learn, Young Master Curtiss." And they left to their separate rooms.

They left, taking a boat to Kaitzur. They had the passports, which was actually the temporary ones that Jade still held, when they were going through the border.

"You may pass."

They kept walking and held their passports again.

"You may pass."

They left Kaitzur and were met by a moving piece of machinery, by the looks of it.

"This is our time to stop walking. Ladies first, as they say." He said, using one of them fluent hand movements. Lina blushed madly, but went up the stairs and sat walked to one of the rooms with the door opened.

"His Majesty isn't expecting you, so you'll have to sit on the couch."

"That's fine with me." She said, sitting in the only couch in the room, while Jade took the bed to lie down on. Soon enough, he was asleep and Lina just sat there, remembering all of those memories at House Curtiss. Her thoughts were broken when the …vessel came to a stop. A soldier knocked on the door. Lina stood up and answered it.

"Ma'am, the ship has arrived in Grand Chokmah. Shall I awake Colonel Curtiss for you?" He whispered when he saw Jade asleep.

"No thanks. I can do that myself." She said, as she dismissed the soldier and smirked.

"This will be fun." She walked to where the Colonel was sleeping on his side and poked his side.

"Wakey Wakey, Jadey Jadey…." She said. The Colonel didn't move, but eventually began to arouse.

"Five more minutes…." He mumbled, and then jumped up.

"We're at Grand Chokmah." She said, as if it was obvious. He got up and walked out of the…vessel, closely followed by Lina.

"Do you want to see His Majesty first? Or your parents?" He asked as they got off.

"I would like to see my parents. I sent word I would visit them." She said. Jade just nodded and they went to the edge of the forest.

"Is it here?" he asked, looking like he had never seen it before.

"It is hidden in the forest. Only those who have been escorted here before know the way. Follow me." She said, and they kept walking, while Lina started to mumble things.

"You don't want to know what I'm mumbling. It makes a sentence that opens the path to the manor."

"Of course. I've never been to your house before…" He muttered to himself. Eventually, they were met by a hedge that was really tall.

"Are we lost?" He asked.

"No. Give me a minute." Lina walked up to a part of the hedge and started to say something in a chant like tone.

"By my name is Tilina Galan Feldesca! Heed to my words!"

"Tilina?" He asked.

"……oh dear….. It's my real name. I don't like it, though. So everyone knows me as Lina."

"That explains it." He said his straight face turning into a smile and he started to laugh. The hedge started to move and there was a path, leading to a huge manor.

"You lived here?"

"Yeah." She said, as they walked to the door.

"….Tilina?" She looked further ahead and saw a man.

"Decas! Nice to see you again." She said/shouted as the man greeted her.

"Please go inside. Your parents are in the drawing room." They walked inside and to a huge door, which was the drawing room. She opened it and was bombarded by her mother.

"Tilina! You're safe, my daughter!" She said, tears streaming from her eyes. Lina had no idea how her mother knew it was her, with her disguise and all. She could feel that her father was truly happy about her return after her 'death'.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Mother, Father." She said, wiping her tears, as she took off the wig and put her glasses back on.

"It's fine. I'm just happy to know that you're safe…. Say, who is this, Tilina?"

"My name is Colonel Jade Curtiss, commander of the Malkuth—"

"So, you're Jade…." Lina's mother giggled. Jade stood there, nice and tall, though he was happy for Lina, for reuniting with her parents again.

"Oh dear….." Lina said and groaned. It took all of her power not to get her mace and smack herself with embarrassment, though Jade just stood there, chuckling.

"Oh, one thing, mother. Do you have a cleric garb that fits me, and a dress by any chance?"

"Of course. Walk to the closet and there should be clothing there." And they left the drawing room.

"That's the first time someone's stopped me in my introduction." Jade said, smirking.

"That's what Mother does best." She said as she opened the door to the room that contained like… a whole room of clothes. She took a few cleric garbs, a few long and short sleeved shirt and a few dresses, with a few high heeled shoes.

"Are you done?" Jade asked.

"Yeah. Let's go see His Majesty." And they left. Back to Grand Chokmah.

* * *

Me: I thought it would be funny if someone disrupted Jade's intro, so I did it here. This chapter came quickly, since all of my ideas were written on a piece of paper that my friend gave me, so yeah.

Tear: Are you done?

Me: What?

Tear: Ranting on about something.

Me: Yeah.

Tear: Finally. She doesn't own anything with relation to TotA. She does have rights over her characters, Tilina (Lina) and her parents. Review if you wish.

Me: That's better.

Luke: What are rights?

Me: ....Tear? Could you do the honours?

Tear: I'll be happy to.

(After a few suicidal minutes)

Me: I think I'll drop it here. Bye. Ciao. Sayonara. umm.... yeah.


	3. Part 3: Seeing Emperor Peony the Ninth

**Part 3: Seeing Emperor Peony the Ninth**

They left House Feldesca, going back the way they came.

"Now do you know how to get in, Jade?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"You can put your name into the system. I've already set it to also permit you into the house."

"Thank you Lady Tilina."

"Please…please…I'll do anything you want but don't call me that."

"Fine, 'Lady' Lina."

"I swear, I'm gonna get Nephry to kill you. Or get Jade to sniff you. Or get Peony to tease you." Lina muttered. Jade turned around.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, sir."

"Anyways, does the Emperor think I'm dead?"

"….Fortunately, no."

"Thank Yulia for that. I'd love to see him cry over for Nephry again." She said, as she smirked. Jade twitched, though she didn't take notice.

"Well, there's Grand Chokmah. We should go to the castle." Jade said, after telling the guards his 'introduction'.

"Should I put in a name that he doesn't know?"

"That'll give him a shock." He said, as he got to the castle doors.

"I would like an audience with His Majesty." He said to the guards.

"Names please."

"Colonel Curtiss." Jade said, immediately.

"And….Lady Feldesca." Lina said.

"Very well. Please wait here." The guard left, probably to tell the others.

"…..I couldn't think of anything else." Lina said, frowning.

"But he may mistake it for your mother, Lady Feldesca."

"True, so true." Then the guard came out.

"Lady Feldesca and Colonel Curtiss, the Emperor will see you now."

"Thank you. You are dismissed." Lina said as they walked in.

"Hide behind me."

"Why?"

"You wanted this to be a surprise, so I don't him to see you. Come out when I say so."

"Fine, Master." Jade ignored the comment, but opened the door to the audience hall and entered, hiding Lina behind him.

"Oh, Jade. So you're here. I heard Lady Feldesca is with you. Why is she here? She usually doesn't come here."

"Oh, you must be talking about Lady Feldesca. I brought…..Lady Lina Feldesca." Lina hopped out of Jades shadow and Peony gasped.

"Lina? Is that you?" He got off his throne and hugged her.

"Yes, Peony. It is me."

"Where did you go after eleven years?" he asked. Jade stepped in.

"That would be my fault. You see—"

"Jade." She cut him off.

"What is it, Lady Lina?"

"Oh, geez. I swear, you never learn. I told you not to call me that."

"Fine. As I was saying—"

"I'll explain it, since it is ME we're talking about." She said, after she huffed at Jade. Jade smirked and stayed silent.

"A few days before my parents attack, I escaped the house, for many reasons. I was wondering around the place until I stumbled upon House Curtiss. I was eighteen at the time, so I enrolled a job there as a maid, and was called to become Jade's personal maid. It was coincidence that Jade would be adopted into House Curtiss, but I became his servant. I never told him or you, even though you've seen me many times." She said, as she took of her wig, revealing the long wavy light brown hair she had.

"That was you I insulted?" Peony said.

_Flashback_

_Lina Feldesca or Selphy Crudelisa as she was known at the time was a servant at House Curtiss. In reality, she was of nobility in House Feldesca, though escaped after learning that there was a plan to assassinate her parents, and she didn't want to stay at home doing nothing. A few days after her first day at being a maid, she was happy, but very sad and angry. She was happy to be promoted to Jade Curtiss's personal servant, but wasn't happy because it was the day that she learnt that her parents were mortally wounded. She was walking to Jade's room when she heard a sob. She knocked on the door._

"_Come in." She heard Jade's young but stifled voice go though. She opened the door._

"_Oh, Selphy. It's you."_

"_Young Master Curtiss, why are you crying?" Lina sat down on the couch next to him._

"_My friend, Lina Feldesca… she's presumed dead from rescuing and warning her parents from the attack that mortally wounded her parents…." Lina smiled shyly._

"…_..Young Master."_

"_Yes?" He was totally unsure about what she was going to do._

"_Will you keep this a secret between you and me?"_

"_Sure…" Lina took off her wig and put her glasses on._

"…_. Who are you?" Lina sighed and kissed Jade's cheek friendly, of course._

"_Stop crying, Jade." She said, as her made her voice normal, which was less squeaky and higher than the voice she had been using. Jade's eyes opened like saucers._

"_Lina? Lina? Is that you?" He was quite clearly shocked._

"_Of course, Jade. I'm not that stupid. I can't die that easily."_

"_Thank goodness. Thank goodness." Jade said, hugging the adult._

"_I must go for a few days. I must go inspect the damage." And she left, not before putting the wig on and taking the glasses off._

"_Wait."_

"_Yes, Young Master?" She asked, putting her voice squeaky and higher by about an octave._

"_Why are you here?"_

"_I ran away from home, since I learned that a plan to assassinate my parents was going on. Please excuse me, I must see my parents." And she left._

_Lina left House Curtiss a few years later, when she was twenty-two, not because she was fired, but because she wanted to find her brother, and if possible, her cousin._

"……..and that's about it." Peony stood there, shocked as Jade shook his head.

"I'm a coward….. though, I'm not going to go and take that path that I took before again." Lina said, crying. Since she was still wearing her civilian clothes, she wanted to know if she could change.

"…uh-hem. Is there I place where I can change my clothing, Your Majesty?" Lina asked, since she was being overlooked by his servant.

"Of course. If you look on your right, you should see a change room. And don't call me that."

"Of course, Peony." And she left.

"You have a good girl there."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Your Majesty."

"…. When am I going to get a wedding invitation?"

"……………………" It was a few minutes of silence until someone broke the silence.

"I'm back!" She came out, wearing a dark sea blue cleric garb with white cuffs and light blue gloves covering her fingers and her arm up to her elbow. She was also wearing knee high boots, instead of the high heels she got. Apparently, it came with the clothing. Underneath, she wore a purple long sleeved shirt and a pale pink short skirt that….came with the garb. Jade gave his report to Peony while Lina went into a corner, practising moves.

"So, are we going?" She asked, picking up her mace that she left on the floor after she got tired.

"Yes, Lady Lina. Apparently, Luke's group is headed to Akzeriuth so I say we walk take a boat to Chesedonia." Jade said, forcing himself from staring at her to the conversation at work. He only notice he was drooling when he heard Peony chuckle.

"Wait, take this with you." Peony said, giving them both one hundred thousand gald each.

"Please, I don't need it. Jade, why don't you take it?"

"Me? Well…..fine." He said, as he sighed and took the money.

"Why, Lina?" Peony asked.

"Because I've got too much from my parents. Oh yeah, can you erase reports of my being dead?"

"And tell the world?" Jade added.

"No. I don't want anyone to know I'm alive. If someone apart from my parents or Luke's companions ask please tell them it's confidential. And, if you hear something along the lines of 'Tilina Feldesca' please talk to them immediately."

"Why?"

"That's me."

"No one knows it's me. If I want to be really confidential, it'll be 'Lady Feldesca'"

"Ok. See you!" He said, walking back to his throne and waving.

"…..that was close." Lina whispered as they left the room.

"umm….you….you look…..nice." Jade stammered, for once in his life, being flustered and yet again, un-Jade like.

"Thanks. Now, shall we be going?"

"Yes, ma'am." Lina groaned.

_**Lina received the **__**Fighter's Beauty**__** title! No one can't stop staring at her! She's a beauty and good looking! And a good fighter, too!**_

* * *

They left to Chesedonia, again. They got a boat, which Peony had got privately for them and got there, within an hour, because there wasn't anyone there.

"Lady Feldesca, we have arrived."

"Thank you. You are dismissed." They both got off and started to walk around the place.

"It seems like we'll be walking from here on." Lina sighed.

"Let's go to the oasis. They would've have to have passed there." Jade said, as if he was the boss.

They walked a fair while until they got to the oasis when they saw the group, with Luke holding his head, kneeling.

"LUKE!" Lina shouted as an instinct and ran up to him.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked Tear.

"I don't know. It's one of his 'headaches' again."

"Headaches…..I see…..I'll do what I can do." Lina opened her mouth and started to sing a fonic hymn. Not Yulia's but a fonic hymn that ran in her family.

"…….swe yul vi fo lu" And Lina finished her song there. (Your imagination works if you want to know the whole song. I just thought of syllables that would make sense, since they don't explain the fonic hymn song words.)

"Was that Yulia's fonic hymn?" Anise asked.

"No. This is a fonic hymn that runs in my family. It's supposed to soothe and prevent many things from happening in a body."

"Anyways, when did you and the Colonel get here?" Anise asked.

"Actually, we were in Chesedonia, when Jade decided to go to the oasis."

"Where did you get those clothes from?" Tear asked.

"I went home, so I got them anyways."

"Oh." Everyone said. Lina knelt down.

"You ok, Luke?"

"Yeah. You stopped the after pain of my headache."

"No problem."

"Well, let's go to the Zao Ruins, where Ion is."

"Ion's gone?" Lina asked.

"I'll trade information with you." Tear said.

"That's fine with me."

* * *

So as they walked as Tear told her about their adventure until the oasis.

"Well, Jade and I went to Grand Chokmah to see His Majesty and report the mission success. Then we went to Chesedonia after Jade was told that he was to meet Luke and co there. So we were in Chesedonia when Jade suggested we go to the oasis. We started to get there when I saw Luke get a headache, and that's where we are now."

"I see…" Tear said.

"Well, we seem to be in some sort of ruin"

"You're perspective seems to be right, Lady Lina." Everyone stopped walking, including the ignorant Luke.

"JADE! DAMN IT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT ABOUT…..EIGHT TIMES ALREADY!" Lina shouted, getting really pissed off.

"Could someone explain to me what's going on?" Anise asked.

"Geez, thanks, Jade. You put me in this situation." Lina said, as she sighed of annoyance.

"The Lady here will explain."

"………………As you know, my name is Lina Feldesca. That is not my real name. My real name is Tilina Galan Feldesca. I look like a peasant, but I'm not. I'm of nobility, House Feldesca."

"House Feldesca of the Malkuth Empire?" Anise asked.

"Correct. Now, everyone won't know what happened to me, except for Guy and Jade."

"Why?" Luke asked. Lina sighed.

"You were too young. It was eleven years ago, that I was supposedly killed and my parents mortally wounded." Guy gaped and Jade stayed quiet.

"Everyone thought I was dead, so this is why I wear a disguise. So I don't freak anyone out." Lina said.

"Where were you, really?" Guy asked.

"…..I escaped a few days before the attack. I was eighteen at the time, so I was wondering aimlessly around the country, until I bumped into Master Curtiss of House Curtiss. He gave me a job as a maid, not knowing who I was, since I took a wig with me. After a few days, I got promoted to my 'master's' personal maid, like you, Guy."

"It was when news of my 'death' reached my 'master' here" Lina pointed at Jade, who was shaking slightly, though you'd only notice if you were standing next to him "He ended up going crazy and started to cry."

"Why?"

"….When I was young, I wasn't born at Grand Chokmah. I was born in Keterburg, where my family was for a few years, trying to escape a lot of things."

"I met Jade, and a few of his friends and we all became good friends before I left when I was five."

"Oh."

"Now, he was crying, so I had to walk in, but I had a different name and accent."

"What was that fake name?" Guy asked.

"Selphy Crudelisa. My voice was a lot higher and squeakier."

"I blew my cover by comforting him and telling him that I was alive."

"…….right."

"So he calls me 'Lady' even though my mother is still alive, though it's probably because he doesn't want to call me Mistress, but in the process, to piss me off."

Lina said, after a few minutes of telling her them her life.

"Everyone satisfied?"

"Yeah."

"Now, let's go…..wait, who are you?" I asked, pointing to the new girl.

"I'm Princess Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. Nice to meet you, Lady Lina."

"I'm soo sorry for being rude, though I would ask you not to call me that. I already have enough with Jadey Jadey here annoying me." Lina said, as she smiled slightly.

"Who said you had the right to call me Jadey Jadey?" Jade asked, smirking.

"Well, if you call me Lady Lina, I can call you Jadey Jadey."

……..Well, with their conversations, they finally reached the end of the ruins….Where they met….BIG DRUMROLL!!!!!!!

Sync, Largo and Asch, who had Ion.

"ION!" Anise shouted. He turned around after breaking the Daathic seal.

Lina took her mace that was always in her back sheath, for convenience and stood the battle stance. She started to chant as Luke and Guy ran to Sync and Largo. Jade started to attack while Lina stood there chanting until she felt something. She then started to run.

"BEAST!" (From….I can't remember, one of the 'Tales of' games. Maybe from Phantasia. Or Symphonia.)

"Ready, Jade?" She asked. He smirked and nodded.

"I'm ready, Lady Lina."

"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who open the gates of hell." Jade started.

"Come forth, divine lightning!"

"This ends now!"

"Indignation!" A flash of light hit both opponents.

"Right! I'm ready….." Lina started as she ran to the light (FoF) where Indignation had stricken.

"Bring all to ash and ruin" Lina started.

"Explosion." Nothing happened for a few minutes, but then a fireball fell from above and hit Sync and Largo. She then got herself together and stood next to Sync.

"Say bye, bye." She said and smirked. She held her mace vertically.

"Tempest Fury!" (……made up?)

Her mace whacked him a few times until she hit the ground with it. It caused an earthquake where there was a huge crack underneath them and a burst of light hit them both and they were on the ground.

"Easy as pie." Lina said. The others, except for Jade, looked at her as if she was like…a queen of attacks.

Then Luke took out his sword and jumped at Asch, who was still with Ion, who blocked. They kept fighting, until one of them had an idea.

"Look, stop this fighting, dreck. I'll trade Ion, if you stop."

"Fine."

They got Ion back and they left the place, chatting the way out.

* * *

Me: As you can see, many things in this chapter, no story, don't match up to the game and won't. Why? I found the game's story a little bit boring at the beginning, so I made it a bit different. Also, fonic hymns, as explained somewhere in the beginning of the game, can be used but are not as strong as fonic artes, apart from Yulia's. So I gave Lina a fonic hymn. In return for the big whole I made at the beginning, I'll most definitely place a few 'sidequest' chapters, to balance the equation. Also, level's don't affect this story, so Jade can use Indignation as if his fon slot seal was almost removed, due to him being able to decipher the code to unlock it (Tales of the Abyss anime chapter 24? Basically when Jade uses 'Mystic Cage' on Dist the Reaper (Dist the Ridiculous, as I call him, sorry for the Dist fans out there!) he says something about that on the Tower of Rem, as an explaination). FoF (Field of Fonons) exist in this story, as a light which has colour and emits different types of auras from it's affinity. I've also tried my best to match the words to the character's personalities, which I have research, since I started the game long ago.....and I can't really remember it. I just remember the ending.

........

So basically, what I'm saying is that this story has a changed storyline, slightly and the fighting system has a mix from the anime and game.

Luke: So...could you say that again? I'm trying to write it down.

Me: But it's already written down.

Luke: It is?

Tear: It is.

Me: To those who I think may want it, I may be putting some LukexTear in here.

Tear: W-what?

Luke: ......what did you say? I was too busy reading the text.

Me: Forget it. I don't own anything from TotA. I own what I own, OC's, made up things and stuff.

Tear: Don't forget, she wants you to review.

Me: .......who made you two my muses?

Luke: The man from the stu-

Me: Don't. Bye.


	4. Part 4: Luke, the Idiot

**Part 4: Luke, the Idiot**

They got out and decided to go to Chesedonia, to rest. Upon arriving to Chesedonia, Luke got a headache, though it wasn't one to worry about. Everyone split up going to different places. Jade and Guy went to the weapon shop, Tear, Natalia, Anise and Ion went to the item shop and Luke and Lina (someone had to go with him to make sure) went to the inn to rest. We went inside, since Luke wasn't in the mood to pay, Lina paid for all the rooms, making sure that they were almost all individual, except for Luke and Guy. Sadly, there were only four rooms left, each with two beds. Mieu, the cheagle that made Lina go crazy, suggested an idea.

"Master, why don't we go this?" He asked (yes, it's a he, it's mentioned somewhere in the game) picking up the pen and drawing the plan.

"That's perfect!" Luke shouted. Lina, even though she liked cheagles, groaned.

"What?"

"Can't we change–"

"No. I'm the ambassador here, so we go with what I want."

"Fine, fine….aristocrat…..idiot." That's all she said as she placed her stuff in the room. A bit later, Lina had a knock on my door. She opened it and was face to face with Luke.

"What now?"

"I'm going out for a walk. I'll be back later."

"Fine." And he left. She sat there and then She heard a shout.

"LUKE!"

I got up immediately, ran outside and saw Luke with a sword in his hands.

"Luke! Snap out of it!" She shouted. He wouldn't listen and continued to attempt to strike Tear. Lina had no choice but to sing.

"…….swe yul vi fo lu" Her song ended and Luke went back to normal, but instead of getting back up, he fainted.

"Lina, what room is he in?"

"The first room near the counter."

Everyone got him up and into his room.

"So what's the sleeping plan?" Natalia asked. Lina groaned. Mieu, who was with her, got out the piece of paper. Everyone seemed happy with it, except for Jade, of course, who didn't show it, but it was in his eyes. She groaned and started to mutter curses.

"Idiot…..stupid…..ambassadors are stupid….."

"You agreed with this?" She heard a whisper. She turned around and found out it was Jade.

"Why the hell would I? He was doing the 'I'm the ambassador' stuff." She whispered back. He nodded, as she blushed slightly in realisation that he was close to her. It was then that Luke started to arouse.

"Where am I?" He said. Lina stood up and spoke.

"You're in your room at the inn in Chesedonia. You fainted after I stopped your connection with Asch."

"Thanks." And everyone, except for Guy left. Lina went to her room, closely followed by Jade.

"I'm going for a walk. See you later." He said nothing, but she left. He noticed that she took her stuff with her, but he didn't do anything, since he knew that if he did, she would shout at him. She only left, because she was too embarrassed to stay with Jade, for many reasons.

* * *

It was a nice morning at just about dawn when Lina woke up. She was just outside of Chesedonia, making a fire to eat the meat that she brought with her. When she finished eating, she heard footsteps, got her mace out and turned around.

"……….Sorry." She flushed and in reality blushed what I (authoress) call a tomato blush. She had almost hit Jade with her mace!

"No need to apologise. I knew I would find you here." Jade said, smiling. …..Smiling? Call the media! Get cameras!

"Why are you up soo early?" Lina asked.

"I usually wake up this early. What about you?"

"I don't know…. It's probably because of the fact that I'm supposed to be dead."

"Probably."

"When are we going?"

"You know, you worried the whole group until I told them that you were on a walk." Jade said, changing the subject.

"You did?"

"Of course, Lady Lina."

"Please, don't call me that, before I have to hit you with the non-spiky side of the mace." Jade paled, kind-of and sat there, chuckling.

"Then they started to worry again. I, of course saw you take your bag with you, so I told them that you were at the edge of Chesedonia, staying there. They didn't question any further, surprisingly." He said, chuckling. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"You know, even though everyone can't see your emotions, being your servant for four years made me learn where your emotions are." She smiled as she packed her stuff and stood up.

"Exactly where are you going?" He asked. She turned around and winked.

"That's somewhere that I don't think you need to know. See you later!" She said/shouted as she walked past the Colonel and further into town. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"That was way to close." She whispered to herself. She got herself together and walked to the inn, sitting down on a seat. She sat there, taking out a book and reading it. It took her a few minutes to realise that there were two people around her. She looked up from her book and found Jade standing there, leaning on the wall and Ion, who was reading the book, with her.

"uhh…umm…hello, Fon Master Ion" She said, nodding her head.

"Hello, Lady Lina." Lina groaned.

"I swear. I must send you to His Majesty in Malkuth. I'm getting tired of 'Lady'."

"I apologise." She smiled and then smirked at Jade.

"At least someone here can at least apologies when calling me 'Lady', Young Master Curtiss."

"I'm so sorry, 'Lady' Lina. My old age is affecting my nerves, which in turn is affecting my brain. My reaction time isn't just as fast as you younger kids." At this comment, Lina dropped her book and stomped to the unnerved Jade and dragged him by his arm. Ion just sat there, staring at the two. Lina turned around for a bit.

"Fon Master, please excuse us. You may read that book….while I give Jadey Jadey here a punishment." She said, as she muttered the last phrase darkly. Ion picked up the book and started to read it, as Lina continued to drag Jade outside.

"What did you say, Jade?"

"I said 'my reaction time isn't just as fast as you younger kids'." For that, he got himself in a lot of trouble, though he just smirked. Lina raised her hand and smacked his cheek, really hard.

"Never. Call. Me. A. Kid. I'm. Only. Six. Years. Younger. Than. You. Are." For every full-stop that was typed, Lina went from smack to jab in that pattern.

".Ha. You never cease to amaze me, Lina." Lina smiled and jumped up and down.

"…Is anything the matter?"

"You called me 'Lina'. It seems you learnt your lesson." She smiled in satisfaction before leaving. She sighed and walked back to the inn, where she found everyone else.

"Where were you?" Tear asked.

"My apologises, I was out on a walk but I realised I stayed out there too long. So, I stayed out there."

"That makes sense, especially with the Colonel's story" Tear said, smiling.

"Who cares? Let's go to Akzeriuth. Master Van's waiting for us there." Luke said as he walked out. We all sighed and walked out, where Jade was already standing outside.

"Why are you here?" Natalia asked. Lina groaned, but answered for him.

"…….He annoyed me too far, so I punished him."

"Well, that's reasonable…..though you two fight like a married couple…." Natalia said, as she mumbled the last bit. Since Lina was standing next to her, she blushed a tomato blush.

"W-what did you say?" She choked out.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

* * *

Luke and co were walking up the Deo Pass, where halfway through, Ion fell due to fatigue.

"…It's fine. Let's keep moving."

"No, Ion. You must rest." Anise said.

"Rest? No, Master Van is waiting for us." Lina got pissed off and stomped up to Luke. He didn't notice of feel her anger. Jade, who was watching this knew exactly what was going to happen, though didn't stop it. Anise, who was just as angry was about to do the same thing, but since Lina started it first, there was no point.

SMACK!

Lina had smacked Luke in the face and started her ramblings.

"Luke, you idiot. You shouldn't always think of yourself. BECAUSE, YOU'RE THE SAME AS ION. IF HE COLLASPES HERE, THEN IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR SHORTENING HIS LIFE!" She said calmly at first, but then shouted. Everyone, apart from Jade and Anise, were shocked, though were just as petrified as Luke to do anything. Jade was the only one who could actually speak.

"Let's take a break. It's not going to kill you, will it, Luke?"

"uhh...umm…yeah, it shouldn't" And they took a break, Lina walking a little further from the group to calm down. She heard footsteps behind her and instinctively grabbed her mace.

"How did you do that to Luke?" Of course, it was Jade.

"I really don't know, Tear. It's probably my rage releasing."

"Well, whatever you did, good job."

"Thanks."

A bit later, she heard another pair of footsteps come.

"Lina, we're just about to leave."

"Thank you for telling me, Fon Master Ion."

"No problem." He started to walk away, but heard Lina talk to him. She was already standing up.

"I told you I would do it."

"Do what?"

"Remember, on the boat?" Ion stood there for a minute.

"Oh yes. I remember."

* * *

They kept walking until they saw something. Something passed them at almost the speed of sound.

"Major Legretta!" Tear shouted as she turned to the direction of the cliff.

After the mini conversation that Tear had with Legretta, everyone got out their weapons as she went down the cliff and did a battle pose.

"Oh dear. It seems that I'm leaving a mark on you, too." Lina said as she got out her mace. Everyone, apart from Natalia, Jade and Lina moved ahead and started to strike her. Lina started to chant spells for Splash and Icicle Rain, basically, while Natalia barraged her with arrows. Jade, on the other hand, had his fon slot seal half undone, started to use the complicated spells.

Soon after, Legretta fell and dropped her guns. She somehow got up, no scratches or blood, but by the looks of it, dead tired. (that's game animation for you)

"Tear! Stay away from the 'reject'!" Jade twitched, and so did Lina.

"'Reject'?.....crap. It's exactly what I thought…." Lina muttered.

"WHAT!" Everyone jumped at the voice. Surprisingly, it was Jade who shouted that. Yes, our cool and collective Colonel just lost his cool.

"Here it comes….." Lina mumbled to herself as she covered her ears.

"YOU ARE THE ONES WHO REVIVED FOMICRY!?" Jade shouted. Lina lifted her hands of her ears.

"Is it over?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, Jade the Necromancer. That ludicrous ban that you placed on it was futile."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN?"

"Why of course….well, I better get going." Legretta said before leaving via the 'quick jump'. Jade, who was still pretty angry, huffing just stood there as everyone started to inch away since they were scared, never seeing Jade get angry, apart from Lina, that is.

"Jade, you can't do anything about it. Stop moping and let's help the people of Akzeriuth. Calm down….." Lina said, patting the Colonel's back, truly knowing what would happen next if she was to let him go. Jade sighed and smirked.

"Well, yes. I'm sorry, I just lost control. Let's keep moving." And they kept walking until they reached Akzeriuth.

"Thank Lorelei Lina knows how to calm the Colonel down." Anise said to no one in particular. Lina just smiled.

"If you've been his personal servant for four years, I'd think you would know too."

_**Lina had received the **__**Emotional Backpress**__** title! If you're angry, feelin' blue or annoying, she'll be the one who snaps you out of it.**_

_

* * *

_

The party entered the mining town of Akzeriuth, which as they saw, as they knew, the miasma covering the whole town, though in different quantities. When they entered, they bumped into the mayor (acting) and one of the Oracle Knights, who took Tear to observe what she was supposed to do. So, she left the group as the group entered the mine shaft, where the miasma was supposed to be the strong point of the miasma.

"…Help…" They heard. Everyone, apart from Luke turned around and saw many mine shaft workers suffering. Everyone, except for Luke ran to people and started to help them. In desperation, Natalia used her fonic artes.

"Recover!" But sadly, it did nothing.

"Heal!" She shouted in desperation, but it did nothing, again.

"Lina, why don't you use your fonic hymn?" Guy shouted. Lina turned around and nodded.

"I don't know if it will work with this many people, but I'll try." She shouted back. She started to sing, and surprisingly, it worked, but only for a period of time.

"Luke, why don't you help us?" Guy asked.

"I don't need to help. I'm the ambassador. I'm going to find Master Van." He said before he left.

"Again with the 'I'm the ambassador' stuff…." Lina muttered inbetween her singing, which was the best solution and option that they had.

A few long minutes later, everyone heard and felt an earthquake. They left the miners and ran to the door, which Luke had gone through. They found Asch there, being hung by a griffith and Lina caught the words out of the man who was with Luke.

"'Foolish replica Luke'"

Everyone ran to where Tear was standing. Both Ion and Luke had passed out and by the looks of it, Luke had used his hyperresonance. Guy had gone to pick up Luke while Lina picked up Ion. They both ran to Tear, who stood there and started to sing.

There was a light and then everyone went black, well to Lina, anyways. When she awoke, she saw everyone standing there, staring. She lifted herself up and the first thing she noticed was that the sky was purple.

"…w-what hap-happened?" She croaked. Apparently, her singing repeatedly had made her lose her voice. Jade turned around.

"We seem to have fallen into the Qliphoth."

* * *

Me: The randomest thing in the game....Luke's line of that he's the ambassador... It really pissed me off, reminding me of a friend of mine. Though, I wanted Jade's outburst to be random. Oh yeah, before I type the next chapter I have to type, the storyline may changed a lot. Stupid mind changed.

Tear: That's fine.

Luke: ...........

Me: Luke?

Tear: He's sad and lonely.

Me: Oh yeah. I don't own TotA. Reviews are pleased, though not forced.

Tear: Thank you very much.

Luke: ........


	5. Part 5: Hemaphobia

**Part 5: Hemaphobia**

They all left the now fallen Akzeriuth and to the Tartarus, which was there, in the Qliphoth of all places. They boarded it, where the first thing they did was treat Lina's sore throat.

"Did I do the….wrong…thing?" Lina croaked to Tear and Natalia, who were helping her.

"Of course not, Lina. You did a good job."

"No, you helped the miners soothe their pain."

"Thank you, Tear, Natalia. I….must ….get …..some…rest…now." She said/croaked before she fell asleep, on the bed that was in the cabin. Jade walked in right after she fell asleep.

"How is she?"

"She's used too much of her power singing, resulting in her croaky voice and her tiredness, seeing as she is now asleep." Natalia said.

"That's good." Though what Jade was feeling was absolute happiness that she was fine and not in pain. He decided not to show it however.

"Oh, yes. I came here to say we've discovered a large fonon source to the west of here."

"That's Yulia City." Tear said, nodding. Jade left and walked to the main control room, moving the Tartarus west, under the waterfall, which Tear told Jade vaporises at a certain area. They eventually got to the city, everyone but Ion and Jade getting off, since Ion was tired and Lina was still recovering, sleeping. So all Jade did was sit in the corridor doing nothing. He was 'elected' to stay behind, since Tear made Luke go and Natalia, Anise and Guy didn't say anything. Though it was true that the group didn't know what to say, so he had to write it down on a piece of paper.

Lina awoke to pure silence. Her throat still hurt, but her energy had come back. She pushed herself off the bed she was on and opened the door. She found Jade sitting there, asleep.

"Jadey…Jadey…wake u-up" She croaked. Jade woke up immediately, with a jump, might I add.

"I see you're awake, Lady Lina." Lina groaned, but he didn't notice, since her groan sounded like an attempt to talk correctly.

"W-where i-is …..everyone?" She asked.

"They're all in Yulia City, except for the Fon Master. He's sleeping in his cabin."

"Right…" She went back to the room to get her mace and came back out.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" Jade asked. Lina turned around and smirked.

"My v-voice may n-not be….perfect, but I f-feel a lot better."

"If you go, that means me staying here is useless, since the Fon Master only took this opportunity because you were out cold." Lina stared at Jade for a while. Then she dropped her mace.

"Have it your way, then……" And she went back to the room she was in, picking up her mace along the way.

* * *

Lina had a good time… doing nothing aboard the Tartarus. The only thing exciting was really, when she got her voice back, for a period of time. All she did was read a book when she heard something.

"Let's go!" She got out of the cabin and into the main control room, where everyone was, well almost.

"....could...s-someone e ...explain to me…what's going…on?" She croaked. Everyone, well almost, turned around and saw her.

"Are you ok, Lina?" Natalia asked.

"Ye….s. My voice is ….still….broken…though."

"I can fix that. The mayor of Yulia City gave us a medicine for you." Natalia said as she gave her a vial. She uncorked it and drank its contents, trying her best not to cough the disgusting concoction out.

"You better now?"

"Yes. Thanks, Natalia. As I was saying, could someone explain?" Guy turned around.

"Lina, this is Asch. Asch this is Lina. Asch is here to help us."

"Lina? You're THE Lina?" Lina scratched her head.

"….umm… I suppose so?" She said, more like asking a rhetorical question.

"……………….."

"…Well, there's no use hiding it now." Lina said as she took off her wig and the contacts she was wearing. It made her pale blue eyes now a light bright green colour.

"Well, that explains why I didn't notice you, Lady Lina." Jade said, smirking.

"My name is Lina Feldesca of House Feldesca. I presume who you are talking about is me?"

"Yes." Asch said, in that horrifically gruff voice of his.

"Well, could someone keep explaining?" Lina asked, her voice normal, but her mind running out of patience.

"We're going to Belkend. Tear wanted to stay here in Yulia City for some unknown reason, and Luke……" Natalia started.

"We left that replica behind." Asch finished for her. Lina just smiled and nodded.

"Got it." And they were off, getting out of the Qliphoth using the memory particles going up into the Outer Lands.

* * *

The group however didn't really go to Belkend first. Instead, they ended up going to Baticul, mainly for a few supplies, since going to Belkend, well, let's just say both Asch and Guy, the one who would kill on a rampage and the one going over fon machinery, would go nuts in the town. While there, Lina decided to buy a new mace, since her old one was getting….bashed with….abuse? It was a long story about what had happened to the pre-abused weapon, but she disposed of it nevertheless. They were just about to leave when…

"Well, hello Jade." Everyone turned around to see their favourite person on a floating chair.

"Oh hello, Dist the Runny."

"uhh…who are you?" Lina asked, even know she knew him.

"I'm one of the six god-generals, the one with the most beauty and intelligence. The others have no match for me. My name is Dist. The. Rose."

"So…Dist the Ridiculous?" Lina asked, scratching her head. Dist, being him moved back.

"I'm Dist the ROSE!"

"Dist the Reaper. Well, Dist, what the hell are you doing here?" Asch said. Dist moved back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Personal business."

"Well, I'm exterminating you and your party, Jade."

"Well, well. Your stupidity is going sky high, Dist." Lina said, pulling out her new mace.

"Do I know you?" Dist asked.

"Of course, Saphir. Or shall I say, Saphir the Pathetic Boy Who Can't Walk." Lina said smirking. Jade, just stood there, staring at the two, smirking.

"Oh, yes. I remember. Dist, don't you remember her?"

"….grrr….DIE OPTIMISTIC LINA!" He shouted. Lina smirked, hitting the spot. She nodded to everyone and smiled. Everyone looked at the two, jaws dropped, except for Asch, who sighed.

"Sorry….I had to do that." A few minutes later, since Jade had said that they're right in the middle of a populated area, they went to the abandoned factory and……

"Earthquake?" Natalia asked. Everyone turned around and saw Dist with his robot. Asch sighed, yet again and took out his sword and he and Guy ran to the robot slashing it like crazy. This was how the fight went, except for the fact that Natalia got smashed, since she had insisted that no one protect her. Lina, who got tired of just smashing the robot, shouted."

"TEMPEST FURY!" And the mace smacked and whacked the robot. Then caused an earthquake and……a light to appear.

"Thank you… Lina." The light spoke? Lina just stood there, but she didn't have long to stand there. The robot had gotten up and swung its funny looking arm at her. She jumped out of the way though it moved before her. After a few minutes, it was all over and the robot fell on Dist. It exploded.

"…..Is he dead?" Guy asked, looking at the robot.

"Unlikely. Knowing him, he would've teleported." Jade and Lina said at the same time. Anise groaned.

"aww…shucks. He should've died. It would've been one god-general less." Anise said. Lina turned around and saw the puddle of blood Natalia made.

"AHHHHH!" She shouted, dropping to the floor. Everyone looked at her, bewildered.

"What's wrong, Lina?" Natalia asked.

"B-blood. B-blood." She said, pointing to the puddle before running away, towards Baticul.

"Jade? Do you know what's wrong with her?" Guy asked. Jade turned around to face him.

"I think this is a phobia to blood. Though…it could only be human blood, and large amounts."

"Do you know how it originated?"

"……Probably." And they left, searching for Lina.

* * *

Lina was at the port, staring at the sea. It was her favourite thing in the world. The sea. It never changed and was beautiful. She heard footsteps behind her. She sat there, legs huddled to herself, shaking and crying.

"Lady Lina?" She didn't respond. The footsteps walked closer to her. Then the figure sat next to her.

"Are you alright?" She turned around and found herself face to face with the Colonel himself. She nodded, though returned at staring at the sea.

"….It's the attack to your parents, isn't it?" She turned around and nodded.

"T-they…. Those…people attacked them… Mother doesn't remember me… she suffered depression which caused her memory loss….and she has many mental disorders… Father went into a coma….Why? Why did they have to attack my parents?" She whined. Jade sat there, stunned, though he never showed it. He scooted a little and put her in an embrace, something the sarcastic man wouldn't really do.

"I went…to inspect….and found…..puddles of my….parent's…..blood on the …floor." She said, though it was stifled since she was leaning on Jades body.

"It's fine. I know how you feel." Jade said, staring out at the sea. It was already sun set, so you could see the sun setting upon the horizon of the sea. Soon later, Lina fell asleep in Jade's arms, without knowing it. Jade sighed.

"Why me? I'm old and have old joints…" He muttered to himself, picking Lina up and walking to the inn, their rendezvous point. He made it there, unharmed and tired or in pain, where he found everyone sitting on the floor.

"You found her?" Guy asked voice full of worry. Jade nodded, as he pointed to the limp lady in her arms.

"Where was she?"

"At the port, like I thought she would've been." Jade said, standing there showing, key word, showing that he was tired.

"Anyways, Guy. Why are you soo worried about Lina?" Anise asked and grinned. He sat there, shocked.

"umm…uhh…"

"Well, were going to have to stay here tonight, seeing as Lina's sleeping." Asch said, sighing. Jade nodded and went into a room, placing Lina on the bed, of course after Natalia paid for the rooms, using a fake name and a different pitched voice. They entered the room Lina was in.

"Natalia, Asch, you'll need disguises." Jade said, sighing.

"Why?" They both asked at the same time.

"Actually, we all need disguises." Guy said. Jade nodded.

"Since Akzeriuth, everyone thinks we died with the collapse. If they, if anyone else, find us alive, they'll freak out."

"Oh." They both said.

"Where are we going to get disguises?" Anise asked.

"…..hmm….good point." Guy said.

"Lina's house." Jade said, almost immediately.

"You mean House Feldesca."

"Well, Lina was called the 'Mistress of Disguises' in her day." Jade said, smirking.

"Was she?" Natalia asked.

"Yes."

"That means…where does she live?" Asch asked.

"Theor Forest." Jade said, in one of them chirpy voices, smiling. Everyone backed away from him a few centimetres.

"Malkuth…..again?" Anise groaned.

"Of course. It'll be fun, for all of those free youngsters like you." Jade said, in that incredibly creepy tone.

"…..Happy Jade's scary." Anise whispered to Natalia, who nodded.

"I heard that, Anise." And everyone backed away another few centimetres.

"…..uhh… anyways, why were you soo worried about Lina, Guy?" Anise asked, laughing to make it more convincing that she wasn't scared.

"….hmmm…I'd think I have to tell you."

"You are Count Gailardia Galan Gardios of House Gardios, are you not?" Jade said. Every stared at him as if he was stupid.

"C-count?" Everyone stammered, well except Asch, who just sat there.

"How did you know?" Guy asked, smiling.

"Well, you fight in the Albert Style, which doesn't really use a shield, though it may be said that some people don't either. This style originates from Hod." Jade said.

"Is he serious?" Something made them turn around.

"It's true." They faced to Lina.

"Oh, and how do you know?" Natalia asked, voice with curiosity. Lina sighed as she got up.

"Have you noticed, Jade? I think your habit for overhearing conversations can explain for me." He turned around and nodded.

"I'll explain. Lina's full name is Tilina Galan Feldesca. Guy's real name is Gailardia Galan Gardios. This means they have the same middle name."

"Is it mere coincidence?" Asch asked.

"Since our best friend Young Master Curtiss here" She said her voice dripping with sarcasm "is too obnoxious to explain fully, I'll take over."

"I'm Guy's cousin." Everyone had shocked eyes, strangely, including Asch, though Jade just shut his eyes, doing the opposite.

"Well, that explains why Guy's gynophobia doesn't react to you."

"Guy? Can I ask something?" Lina asked.

"Yes?"

"Was that voice when I used Tempest Fury….was it?"

"…I'm pretty sure, though my memory is blurry."

"Who is she talking about, Guy?" Natalia asked. Anise nodded. Guy shrieked, just a little.

"Her brother, Karima." Guy said after recovering.

"Karima…." Jade said, shaking his head.

"Yes……..he died…..protecting Guy's family." Lina said, facing the floor.

"The late Duke Karima Feldesca?" Natalia asked.

"The very same." And Lina fell back, out like a light.

_**Lina received the **__**Master of Disguise**__** title! To hide, is to dress up. It's a girls game, dress up!**_

* * *

When Lina awoke, she awoke to a rainy day. The first thing she noticed, it was still dark. The second thing she noticed was that Jade was in her room, sleeping. When she got up, she got out a paper and a pen, writing a note, before leaving the inn. She walked to the port, letting the rain get to her face. She sat down in the exact same spot, there for a while.

"Brother…brother…watch me, please." She whispered as she shut her eyes.

"Your brother, Lady Lina?" She turned around, opened her eyes and sighed.

"Didn't I write specifically not to look for me?" She asked. She pushed the fake hair out of her eyes and frowned. Jade chuckled.

"For all I know, you could just kill yourself. And I don't want you to die." Then Jade's eyes widened, slightly, though you couldn't really see it, due to his glasses being foggy from the rain.

"What did you say?" She asked, shocked.

"I don't want to send word to your parents about your death." And that's when Jade saved himself from a questioning fate. Or did he?

"Oh, I'm sure…" Lina muttered darkly.

"What did you say, Lady Lina?"

"…..Nothing." She said, closing her eyes and looking out at sea.

"So where are we going now?"

"Oh yes, I forgot. We need to get disguises from your house."

"…..Right." And the two left, going to the inn, to the forest.

* * *

Me: If you've noticed, I've slowed it down... so THIS is the more important part. And yes, I did make this chapter more emotional, since I found the others slightly boring. And, yes. I did spill out Guy's identity this early, though Luke and Tear don't know. And, no, I don't really like Asch soo much I want him to appear a lot, but it's the only parts of the game with opportunities to do things WITHOUT Luke.

Tear, Luke: (Silence)

Me: Oh yeah, their not here. Backup team!

Anise: She doesn't own TotA. Review are wanted, though not forced to death.

Me: Was that a bit dramatic?

Jade: That was definitely.

Lina: Jade, go back to the stu-

Me: What are you two doing here? You should be at studio-

Jade: Let's go, Lina. I don't want to suffer this.

Guy: .....are they gone?

Me: Yeah. Though why aren't you scared of me? I'm a girl.

Guy: I don't know.

Me: (Angry) Are you saying I'm not feminine?

Guy: Eeeek!


	6. Part 6: Disguise, Disguise, Disguise

**Chapter 6 Disguise, Disguise, Disguise**

They left Baticul, discreetly of course. Lina sighed of annoyance of going home early, though she never told them that she sent a carrier pigeon telling her parents of her early comeback and to prepare some clothing for all of the people. Jade, of course, being him noticed and being him, told everyone.

"……Why is she soo annoyed?" Anise asked.

"She doesn't want to go home, does she?" Natalia asked.

"But she hasn't been home for eleven years, hasn't she?" Guy asked.

"Almost like me…." Asch muttered, though no one heard him, and he was really thankful about that.

"hmm…let's see…. To answer Anise's question, she doesn't really want to see her parents. To answer Natalia's question, she doesn't. To answer Guy's question, she just went home….hmm…a few weeks ago." Jade said, answering all of their questions with the 'incredibly creepy voice'.

"Jade, stop it. Jade, stop it. I swear I'll send you to my hiding spot and use my friends to deal with you." Lina muttered with a huff as they walked, right after getting off the Tartarus near the forest.

"hmm? Stop what?" He asked, smiling an incredibly creepy and slightly deadly smile. Lina had one of them 'light bulb' moments and grinned like a maniac. Everyone, apart from Jade stopped walking momentarily before starting to walk again, making sure that they kept their distance.

"Oh. I got a really good idea. What if I make you….cross-dress?" She said, really happily. Jade stopped walking and everyone started to crack up with a whole lot of laughter. He got his step back and walked in silence.

"That's better." Lina said, dusting her hands and smiling.

They eventually made it to the edge of the forest, near the entrance.

"Keep close. I don't want to go scouting for you. And to make the record, I'm the only one who knows."

"Oh, so I don't?" Jade said smirking. Lina stopped walking.

"And where did all of your common sense go? Last time, we walked from the exit of the forest. Now, we're walking from the entrance." Lina said voice full of sarcasm, with a shrug. They kept walking until they found themselves in an utmost familiar place. Our favourite tall hedge and our favourite line.

"Are we lost?" Anise asked. Silence is golden, as they say.

Cue the next line.

"Are we?" Guy added. Lina smacked her forehead and walked up to the hedge. What they didn't notice was that Lina kept muttering words, almost silently.

"By my name is Tilina Galan Feldesca. Heed to my words!" And slowly, but surely, the hedge started to move apart. Everyone gasped. Asch gaped.

"How did you get that?" Asch asked the first to recover.

"Decas requested it in my name, from my 'will' to protect my parents." And they walked to the huge manor.

"Wow! You lived here?" Anise asked. Lina flushed and scratched her head.

"uhh…yes?" She said, jokily, as if it was a question.

"Ah, Duchess Tilina. Nice to see you again." Decas said as they walked towards the door. Everyone, and I mean everyone stopped walking.

"D-duchess?" Guy stammered.

"Wait, Decas. When did I become Duchess?" Lina asked frowning at the title.

"Well, your father decided that he was no longer suitable for the job. So now you're the heir." He explained. Lina groaned.

"Why now?" She asked, smacking herself "I don't want to be one now….." She frowned. She then placed a hand on her head.

"Please, I'll take the job, but after I'm out of this journey. I don't want to go." She started to get fidgety.

"So, you'll take the title, but not do your job until later?" Jade asked. She turned around but didn't do anything. She ran inside and upstairs, into her room. She locked the door and sat down on her bed.

"Brother….Should I take your job?" She asked "Should I?" She added. As usual, there was no response, but when she picked up her mace, she heard a voice.

"Come on, Tia, you should do it." She turned around. There was no one else in her room. No one called her Tia, except for…

"Brother?" She whispered.

"It's been your wish to do it. So, go for it. It's a once in a life time opportunity. "

"……. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"Come on, if you don't, someone else will take the spot. Do it for me. I know you'll do well."

"Fine, brother. I'll do it for you." She whispered and she heard nothing else. She sat there for a while until there was a knock on her door.

"Lina? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She said, as she opened the door.

"Well, we need disguises now." Natalia said as they walked down the stairs.

"Well, follow me." She said, as everyone else followed her to the basement and they came upon a huge door. It had funny patterns all over it.

"Does it need a key?" Guy asked.

"No. Though, I might need you Guy, seeing as…."

"As?" Anise asked.

"Never mind. I'll do it myself." She walked up and took the flute, which was on the stand. She played a song and the pattern lit up a green colour and the door opened. There were many racks of clothes.

"Wow! Now I know why they call you the master of disguises." Anise said, smiling like a maniac. She turned around to Jade and faked a frown. He just smirked. Lina sighed and shrugged.

"Well, I'm just going to get nothing here, seeing that I already have a disguise." Lina said, sitting on the couch.

"Take anything you want though."

The others searched around the place, taking what they wanted and went to the changing rooms. Then it struck Lina that Tear and Luke needed one too. So she got her lazy self off the chair and found a black and red dress and a cloak for Tear, and a black shirt and pants with a white jacket for Luke. Once she found the clothes, she took them with her and placed them on the couch. Then it hit her, again that she needed a headband and new contacts, so she walked to the table and took out a headband of hers, a white ribbon headband and a one dark pink contact, taking off the one of her pale blue ones and placing the other one on. Once she had done that, she went back to the couch and sat down.

"We're done!" Anise shouted as everyone walked to the door.

Anise was wearing a dark pink shirt and black pants, Tokunaga with a little hat and striped t-shirt. She had black and pink swirled gloves and was wearing cat ears in her pigtails. She also had a dark blue cape, which replaced her pink cape. Natalia wore an orange and red dress, with her arrows and bow on her back, no gloves and very, very long boots. Guy had changed his hair colour to a red-brown colour with a tan shirt and a brown vest and black pants, his sheath black. His gloves were now just black.

"So, Guy, you've changed into a new Asch, haven't you?" Lina asked, smirking. He backed away a little.

"N-no… I just wanted to change from white."

"I'm sure, I'm sure."

"What happened to you, Lina?" Anise asked, jumping and pointing to Lina eyes.

"…….They can identify me from my light green eyes, so I decided to get two colours for my eyes. And the headband….well, having long hair isn't really fun." Lina said, smiling at the thirteen year old.

Asch was wearing a white version of his usual, with black replacing the grey. His sheath was white.

"Have you changed into the nice, new and improved Asch?" Lina asked. Asch paled, and his stoic face had changed to temporary shock.

"I'm not nice."

"Right, right."

The funniest thing was what Jade was wearing. He had a light green jacket, white shirt and black pants. He had a blonde wig and was wearing sunglasses. His boots were black and his gloves were an absolutely dark blue. Lina fell down with laughter.

"Did…Anise…dress…you…up…or…something?" She asked in the middle of her laughing fit. Everyone started to laugh, except for Asch, who chuckled. Jade frowned.

"Oh, so my fashion sense is horrible?" And that's when everyone stopped laughing.

"Let me help you. Because people will think you would be crazy." Lina said, sighing and frowning. She dragged him around the place.

"Nephry's gonna be annoyed with you. Especially if I'm the one choosing the clothes."

"Yes, yes, I know."

"And I'm going to have to tell her, too."

"What? You're going to do the same thing to Nephry like you did to His Majesty?"

"Of course."

After a while, Jade was now wearing a blonde wig with sunglasses, white long sleeved shirt, dark brown vest, black pants and those long black boots with white gloves.

"Well, I'm going to have to go tell my parents my decision. You can go around here, feel at home, I'll tell Decas to listen to you." Lina said, before walking up the stairs.

"What decision?" Guy and Anise said at the same time. She didn't turn around but twitched.

"I'm becoming the Duchess, aren't I?"

"That means you're leaving us?" Natalia asked concerned. Asch stayed silent. Lina shook her head.

"No way. I still have something to figure out. I won't stop until I figure it out." And she left, going to her parents.

Anise went around the place, dancing like an idiot. Well, it was a manor she was in. Asch and Natalia went to the balcony to have a conversation. Guy went to the training grounds and sliced like crazy and Jade just walked around the place, doing little things occasionally.

"Mother?" Lina asked, as she walked into the drawing room.

"Yes?"

"I'll do it. Though may I do one thing?"

"Yes?"

"Can I do the coronation ceremony quickly, within the next hour or two?"

"I'll call you when it is done." And Lina left, sighing. She walked around the place and into her room, surprisingly finding someone else there too.

"Jade? What are you doing here?" He turned around.

"Just walking around. And telling Anise here not to go through your private stuff."

"Anise? Please, don't go through my stuff. Or I'll get Ion." He was the only one who didn't have a disguise, because he was Ion, the Fon Master. The little girl appeared.

"Your stuff?" Anise asked. Lina smacked her head.

"This is my room." Anise did the 'oh' and left. Lina sighed and flopped on her bed. Jade just took out a book and read it. After a while, there was a knock on her door. It took her a while to notice that she never dismissed Jade from her room.

"Who is it?"

"The ceremony will now commence, Lady Tilina. Please go to the drawing room." Lina sighed and got up, walking out. She then turned around.

"What? You're not coming?" Lina smirked. Jade placed his book down.

"…Oh right. I was too busy in this book of yours." He said, as he placed it down and followed her.

* * *

After the ceremony (which I couldn't really be bothered typing, since it had almost no significance), everyone decided to stay there for the night, Lina having Decas prepare the spare rooms for everyone. Lina, after dinner, which I daresay, Anise had a ball at, went to her room and slept. It left everyone else to do anything they wanted.

"Do you think Lina's going to really come with us, Colonel?" Anise asked to Jade.

"Well, chances of her coming with us are high, seeing as she really didn't want to come here in the first place." Jade said as he walked out.

"Time to hit the hay. At this age, all of my joints are in pain. It's just old age." Jade continued as he went to a room and slept. The others had a game of cards, due to Anise's want for money.

_**Lina has received the **__**Duchess**__** title. She never though in her life she would be the duchess. Though she is now. A huge advantage….though it wasn't written in the Score. Well, she thinks.**_

* * *

Lina woke up to a nice day and went outside, walking around the forest, staring outside. She eventually found herself at the training grounds. She got out her mace and started to swing it around the place, whacking all of the dummies until she got tired. As she was about to leave…

"You train here too, huh?" For once, it wasn't Jade.

"Yeah. It's my favourite place. It was also… his favourite place." Lina said, staring at the ground, all sad and dull all of the sudden.

"I know. What about a spar?" Guy asked as he got one of the training swords from the stand.

"You're on." Lina said, smirking. She got out her training sword and they sparred. Out of all of them, Guy won about five and Lina won about six.

"You're good."

"Of course. I'd usually beat Karima at least two matches more than he does." Guy's eyes widen but Lina didn't cry or anything.

"There is no point crying the dead." Lina said, sighing. Guy left and Lina stayed on the ground, sitting down, reconsidering her words.

"As you said, there is no point crying for the dead." She turned around and smiled.

"Are you trying to cheer me up Jade?" Jade chuckled.

"Of course not. I'm just saying it for fun." His voice, dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, it really didn't work, though I appreciate the effort. Now, let's go to Belkend!" She shouted, punching the air. Positivity rushing through the air.

"Right…. Let's go." Jade closed his eyes and smiled. Finally, they were going to Belkend.

* * *

Me: Yay~! I can F.I.N.A.L.L.Y update! The net here is kinda stuffy... so yeah.

Luke: What's 'net'?

Me: It's the greatest thing on earth.

Luke: What's 'Earth'?

Me: Where I live.

Luke: What's 'li-'

Tear: Luke, don't ask these stupid questions. Use Guy's dictionary.

Me: Guy has a dictionary?

Lina: Yeah... I think I gave it to him for Christmas...

Me: Think...?

Lina: I was drunk.

Me: ....stupid things happen when someone is stupid.

Lina: What was that?

Tear: She doesn't own ToA. Apparently, reviews are recommended, but not forced.

Me: Apparently?

Jade: She means that what she found on the note-

Me: Go back to the studio. Goodbye peoples and enjoy the next chapter in the next coming days!


	7. Part 7: Technological Difficulties

**Part 7 Technological Difficulties**

They eventually made it to Belkend, where Guy went crazy with the fon machinery town. Lina shrugged and sighed, before dragging Guy back by his ear.

"Look, you can go crazy later, but we have to do things here, too." Guy turned around and winced.

"Yes, Mary." Lina eyes widened.

"Mary? I'm not your older sister, you know."

"Older sister?" Anise asked. Lina turned around and smiled, giving Anise the 'I'll tell you when he's gone' look. Everyone nodded and started to walk towards The big building which was actually the Fon Machinery Laboratory 1. They eventually stumbled upon a room which had someone Asch didn't like.

"Ahh…Asch is it?"

"Spinoza!"

"Who?" Almost everyone asked, except for Jade.

"So, you're the one who really broke the ban on fomicry." Jade said, sighing.

"Who are you?" Everyone, except for Lina and Asch turned around and jumped slightly. They sighed of relief.

"I'm….umm….an high member of the Malkuth Imperial Forces?" Jade said, shaking his head. He had said it as if it was more like a question.

"I'm Duchess Feldesca. If you don't want to be hurt, please stand down, or we'll have to use force on you." Lina said, with a serious face of annoyance (does that make sense?). Spinoza gulped and stood back, before running away. Lina frowned.

"Aww…damn it. Almost." Lina grumbled her fingers split only a few millimetres apart.

"Lina, why did you reveal your identity?" Anise asked. Lina smirked.

"Lina Feldesca is supposed to be dead, remember? I'm her, so if I use the name, they'll think I'm a replica, though I'm not. They'll just ignore me." Lina said. Everyone nodded.

"Well the good thing is that he left evidence." Guy said, walking towards the table, closely followed by Jade.

"They seem to be collecting something for Van's project……" Jade didn't say anymore, though Lina looked from his shoulder. She gasped when she was the notes resemble something she had seen before.

"Fomicry… this is…. The principles to fomicry." Lina said, taking the piece of paper from Jade and reading it.

"Our next destination seems to be the…. Ortion Cavern." Natalia said, while looking at the piece of paper. They left the laboratory, with the piece of paper.

"Well, enjoy the cavern." Guy said. Everyone turned around.

"Let me guess, Guy. Something's been bothering you. It has something to do with Luke, doesn't it? You want to go back to Yulia City and watch him?" Lina said, sighing. Guy looked at the ground for a moment and then nodded.

"But why? Why do you want to go back for that 'idiot'? You're real master is right here." Guy frowned at Anise.

"It just so happens to be, that my 'idiot' is my best friend."

"Go to the Aramis Spring." Asch said. Guy looked at him questionably.

"Why?"

"They'll most likely come from there."

"Right, see ya!"

"Guy! Wait!" Lina said, stopping the man. She passed them a package.

"Please, give this to them and tell them to change into them immediately." She smiled and Guy took it, leaving.

* * *

They boarded the Tartarus and headed for the Ortion Cavern, which was west of where they were, though two specific people weren't really happy of going there.

"Could it be?" She asked herself, while sitting on the ground.

"Could it be what?" Lina turned around, looked up and smiled.

"Oh, something about this cavern's name is disturbing me." Jade smirked.

"It's Dist's, isn't it?" Jade nodded.

"Only an idiot would name a cavern like that."

"Oh, I'm going to have a good time…." Lina muttered. Jade smiled and nodded.

"We're there!" Anise shouted. Everyone left and found themselves on a ledge part of the cavern's entrance. Everyone got off and walked towards the cavern, which they didn't expect to see…

"Machines?" Natalia asked. Lina and Jade nodded simultaneously, their suspicions affirmed. Asch stared at them while Natalia and Anise just stood there, not understanding a thing. Jade then walked up to one of the machines and did a few things with it.

"What? This contains information of fomicry… they've mined fonimin from cavern covers up to one-tenth (is that accurate? I can't remember) of Auldrant. There seems to be information of the residents of Hod…..this should've been removed by the Malkuth military." Jade said, turning the machine off. Lina turned around and took out her mace in one fluid motion. Everyone turned around and got out (or summoned) their weapons. A fish like looking monster that was extremely ugly, in Natalia's opinion, fell from the ceiling with its friends

"Are you serious? And I thought fighting a robot which hated water was crazy. Now we're fighting a fish out of water?" She said as she ran with Asch to whack the heck out of it. She retreated back when Anise took over. Natalia was shooting arrows faster than Legretta's bullets and Jade was casting, like crazy, though occasionally taking breaks by whacking the heck out of the fish (Ancylopolyp. Who thinks of these ridiculous names? Dist?). There was one nice short sentence that told her what to do.

"Use light based attacks, Lina!" Jade shouted inbetween his incantations.

"Prism Sword!" And all Lina said, until she got tired of it. Jade was doing a variety of different spells, though they were limited. Once Lina got tired of casting, she turned to Natalia and nodded then she ran. She jumped up and whacked the fish from above, while Natalia shot an arrow. And then it ended, and Lina started to glow.

* * *

Asch had just kicked Luke out of his dream. Luke had woken up from his aptly named coma. He walked outside to a glowing field of flowers, where he saw a body. Standing still. He walked and his eyes adjusted to the light.

"So, you're awake."

"Yeah…."

"So….."

"St. Binah's going to fall. I know."

"How?"

"Asch and I are connected. I see what he sees."

"Oh. Well, let's go see Grandfather." Tear said as she started to walk away.

"Look…I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"My arrogance. My stupidity. All I say is 'Master Van….' Or 'Asch…." Tear turned around.

"You know apologising isn't going to fix what happened to Akzeriuth."

"I know… though if I could pay my life for what happened to Akzeriuth….I would be scared, but I would…die." Luke said, looking at the flowers.

"Luke…."

"I'm going to change. I know I can't do anything for Akzeriuth, but I'm going to help the others. I'm not going to let St. Binah fall."

"Luke. One cannot change because they say it out loud."

"I know….say, Tear? You carry knives with you, don't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"May I borrow one?"

"Sure…" She said, lifting up the uniform she was wearing slightly and getting a knife from the rack.

"Thanks." Tear jumped back a few centimetres. The arrogant, aristocratic, selfish bastard-like person said 'Thanks'? Luke got a part of his hair and ran the knife through it, cutting it off. Tear gasped slightly. Luke took the hair in his hands.

"This is to let go. To let go of who I was. This is the start of who I want to be." Luke said, as he let go of the hair.

"Well, let's meet Grandfather."

"Right."

* * *

After a meeting with Tear's Grandfather, Teodoro, they left for the Outer Lands, using the Yulia Road. They got on the portal and found themselves at the Aramis Spring.

"The water pushes out to the side, so you won't get wet." Tear said as she walked out of the spring. Luke shook his head and got out.

"So that's the entrance to exit?" Luke asked.

"Yes." And they were off.

A bit later, specifically a few minutes after walking they met someone they knew. This person was sitting in an Indian position with his eyes closed.

"Oh, it's about time you came. I've been waiting here a long time."

"Guy?" They both said. Guy opened his eyes.

"Nice to see you again. Lina wanted to-….whoa! Luke! You got a haircut. Nice, clean cut." Guy said, jumping back a little bit.

"Thanks, Guy." Guy's eyes widened heaps.

"WHAT? Luke said 'THANKS'?" He jumped almost a few metres up in the air.

"….You'll get used to it." Tear said.

"What were you saying about Lina, Guy?" Tear asked, continuing on from what she last said, walking forwards.

Cue the 'Guy' moment.

"ACKKKK!" He shouted as he jumped back a bit more. Tear sighed.

"I'm sorry. I forgot." Guy took a moment to catch his breath.

"Sorry 'bout that. Lina told me to hand this to you." Now, Guy wasn't wearing his disguise, since he was in an almost uninhabited place.

"What are these?" Luke asked, opening the box.

"They're your disguises. Everyone thinks we're dead, so you'll need disguises."

"Oh." And they went to a secluded part of the cave with the briefcase. Tear was the first to come out, wearing the dress that Lina chose with a headband and glasses. Then Luke came out. Guy started to laugh.

"You know… you look exactly… like Asch did…" Guy said, during his gasps for air. Luke was wearing what Lina chose for him with dark blue hair.

"…..Did she put in a dark blue hair wig?" Guy asked. Luke nodded and took it off, placing it back in the suitcase.

"Let's go."

And they got out of the path within the passing few hours.

"Ah, Guy." Jade sighed when he saw the blonde haired gynophobic swordsman.

"What's up, Jade?" Guy asked.

"I need to tell and ask. I'll tell you that Princess Natalia and Fon Master Ion are at the Oracle Headquarters, captured." Everyone gasped at that.

"What's the other thing?"

"You'll have to go without me." Jade said.

"Why?" Luke asked. Jade turned around.

"Oh, you're here." Luke ignored him and looked at what he was hiding questionably.

"Dada? Who that?" The figure popped out from behind him. She had shoulder length brown hair and bright, light green eyes. It looked like someone they knew.

"Who is she?" Tear asked, blushing slightly at the girl's cuteness.

"……..This is Lina." He said, smacking himself. The two boys snickered at what they called the usually calm Colonel and Tear just covered her face.

"We were doing something at the Ortion Cavern and once we had finished the monster, she started to glow with a glyph underneath her. Me, being me HAD to touch her, making her forget her memories, temporarily of course. That's why she calls me 'Dada'." Jade said, smacking himself again. Afterwards, he smirked, reverting to his Jade-like manner again.

"Dada, that Luke, Tear and my coosin. Can I play with Guy?" Lina asked, tugging the Colonel's glove. Guy laughed and walked up to her. On his way to her, he whispered to Luke. Though, everyone was shocked that she remembered something.

"Looks like I'm out. I'll try my best to bring her back to her usual self. Go to Daath and into one of the old looking apartments. You should find Lina's sister. She can fight for you."

"Right." And the two left, onwards to Daath.

"….Now, where's the Tartarus?" Guy asked, sighing as the four year old jumped up and down.

"The port near Daath." Jade sighed as they walked to the Tartarus.

* * *

Luke and Tear got to Daath by nightfall, so they went to the inn. Luke paid for it, strangely. They stayed there the night, until something dawned upon Luke.

"Isn't Anise here, then?" Tear nodded.

"She should be." And they went to sleep. Not thinking about how Guy was suffering.

* * *

What Jade and Guy were doing on the Tartarus while the others were at Daath… was extraordinary.

"Guy. I'll say something. Never. Ever. Give. Her. Strawberries."

"Why?" Guy asked, as he shook his head.

"You haven't seen her crazy mode. She will go nuts for strawberries. I don't want her stuffing the Tartarus around."

"Right…"

"You know, Jade. You're not sounding like yourself." Jade flinched. He turned around.

"I've been looking after Lina for a few days now, and I haven't had any sleep since Belkend." Jade sighed. "Can you take over?" Guy nodded as the Colonel walked into the cabin and slept.

"Lina… what shall we play?" Guy asked. Lina looked at her attire and shrugged. She was wearing a purple t-shirt and black pants, with the little booties of course.

"Ball!" She shouted. Guy sighed.

"We can't. Dada said no." Guy picked her up and placed her on the little bed. He cringed at the fact that he had to call Jade 'Dada'.

"Time for sleep sleep time!" Guy said, smiling, though it wasn't real.

"GUYYYYYY~! I no sweepy!" Lina shouted. Guy placed her on the bed anyways.

"Tear? I totally wish you were here. At least you can put her to sleep." Guy muttered as he rocked the crib. She soon fell asleep and Guy assessed the damage she made. Half the Tartarus was covered in small bumps.

"Well, it seems that Jade was right about the strawberries…" And it was time to clean up the mess of strawberries and junk.

* * *

Me: Teehee... A shocker, right? Now my imagination had definitely gone overboard. It's either I'm getting stupider or smarter. St. Binah's fall is written on the sheet. so they don't really discuss it.

Tear: Neither.

Luke: Stupider.

Me: ...Hang on.. Didn't you have a meeting with the direc-

Tear: Shush! We're avoiding him.

Jade: Well, well, well. The director-

Luke: Jade, be quiet. We're avoiding him.

Lina: Why?

Luke: We don't want to lose our jobs as muses.

Me: What?

Tear: She doesn't own TotA. Review are appreciated.

Me: Thanks.

Luke: Uh-oh... he's here. Tear! Let's go!

Tear: What?

Jade: They're like a married couple running away from many things.

Me: What the heck? Isn't that Natalia's line?

Jade: She isn't here, so I'll take over.

Me: Horrible replacement.


	8. Part 8: Enter and Save

**Part 8 Enter… and Save**

Luke and Tear had just woken up when they noticed something.

"I wonder what that was." Luke muttered as he walked out of the room. Tear muttered something along the same lines.

"What was that?"

They got out of the inn and saw nothing.

"I was hallucinating." They both said. They turned around to look at each other.

"You saw that thing too?" Luke asked. Tear nodded. Both turned around.

"Oh… the Colonel isn't here." Tear was right though. If something like this were to happen, Jade would say something about it.

They left and saw Anise running up to them.

"Ahh…Tear! You're here! So the Colonel did send word." Anise said, hugging Tear.

"Yes… We know."

"We…. ?" Anise let go of Tear. She looked who was next to her.

"Does this idiot come with the rescue team?" Luke faced the ground.

"Apparently so." Tear said and they were on their way. On their way to the Oracle Headquarters, however…

"Anise?" Tear asked. Anise turned around.

"Guy said that Lina's sister lives here… do you know where she is?"

"Lina's sister?" Anise asked, scratching her head.

"She lives in one of the old apartments." Luke said, facing the ground in shame.

"Oh… I might know something." And they took a detour, walking towards the residential area.

"Luke… trust isn't something you can get back by apologising. Once you lose it, it's going to take a long time getting it back." Tear said. Luke just nodded.

* * *

Jade and Guy were having a ball in La La Land. Lina had woken up after a few hours of Jade pushing her and looking after her until she fell asleep while Guy cleaned up the mix of strawberries and junk around the Tartarus.

"And I like her too…" Jade mumbled as Guy swept the floor.

"…Like?" Lina said. Jade jumped in surprise and Guy stopped sweeping.

"Like? You like… her?" He asked, gesturing to Lina, indirectly. Jade jumped a few metres, something the old man wouldn't do.

"…………." He smirked, showing that he regained his original personality. Guy looked at him and then turned around and then shouted.

"LINA!" Jade just turned around. Then started to mentally freak out.

"Lina? Where are you? Come to dada…" Jade said, though he was returned by a giggle. Not from Guy but from someone else.

"Jade… so… what's with the 'dada'?" Lina said as she jumped from chair at the Tartarus. Guy jumped and Jade just stood there, chuckling at Guy's expression. She was back to her original age wearing her old clothes.

"….nothing." And he stared at her.

"You're back. You're back…" Guy muttered happily. Jade just continued staring at her as if she was a ghost, though he tried his best to hide it.

"Hello? Auldrant to Jade?" Lina said, waving her hand in front of Jade's face. He didn't respond. He just kept staring at her. They both (Guy and Lina) found this freaky. Guy started to panic and Lina started to worry for Jade's mental health again.

"Jade? You still around?" Guy asked. It was a few minutes later that Jade finally regained his composure. She looked around the place.

"Whoa! Don't tell me… Jade? Did you give me strawberries?" Talk about flat-out obvious. Jade nodded, face slightly horrified. Guy was just surprised she knew.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…" And that's all you could hear for the next a few minutes.

"But… what caused this?" Jade asked. Lina stopped apologising and looked at him straight in the eye.

"Dist." And Jade knew what it was immediately.

* * *

Luke, Tear and Anise (Mieu too, though… I can't be bothered typing that all the time) were standing in front of the place where they thought, thought, Lina's sister lived. Anise knocked on the door. A woman, only about their age answered it.

"Is your name by any chance Realai Demascas?" Tear asked looking at the note Guy had somehow slipped Luke's pocket, him only discovering its existence during his stay at the inn.

"Yes? How may I help you?" She had long brown hair and one pink eye, the other being purple. Her attire was a dress, which was light blue, with pale purple seams and a few pink spots around the place. You could see a sheath behind her back.

"May we speak to you in private?" Luke asked. Anise jumped a bit. Tear knelt down, slightly.

"You'll get used to it." She whispered. The girl nodded and they were let in. The house was a little on the disgusting side, considering her clothing. They sat down on the only clean thing, the dining table.

"Is your real name, Realai Feldesca?" Anise asked. The girl jumped and paled, but answered truthfully.

"Yes." The three sighed.

"We need your help. In reality, your sister is supposed to be doing this but…" Tear started, but the girl cut her off.

"My sister's alive?" She asked eyes big.

"Yes, though we ask that you not say anything." Tear continued, answering the girl's question.

"We would like you to assist us in rescuing the Fon Master and Princess Natalia of Kimlasca." Luke finished off, getting a little antsy.

"Sure. But it has to be only in Daath. If you don't want to call me Realai, call me Rea."

"Sure. Welcome aboard, Rea!" Anise groaned. She really didn't like her already, though she had appeared to have had a worse life than she had herself, so she decided to show a little bit of sympathy.

They left, walking to the cathedral.

"Are we allowed to walk in like this?" Luke asked. Tear turned around.

"The Oracle Headquarters are in the basement, so coming in here doesn't really matter." She made sure that she kept her voice to a low. Or otherwise, there would be a whole lot of unnecessary fighting and stuff. They kept walking until Tear noticed someone and she walked to him immediately.

"Welcome to the cathedral." Tritheim said.

"Ah… you're Guardian Tatlin and Sergeant Grants, correct?" He asked. Anise didn't say anything, though Tear did. Everyone, apart from Realai, thought something along the lines of… 'How in the name of Lorelei does he know?'

"Yes. I'm here to report about the Seventh Fonstone found in Akzeriuth. These people here are my acquaintances and witnessed it with me." Tear said. Tritheim nodded.

"Then I presume you need a pass to Headquarters." He said. Tear nodded and he gave them a 'pass'. It was just a card with his name on it, giving them permission to enter the premises.

* * *

Lina, Jade and Guy were fooling around on the Tartarus. Well, actually, I wouldn't call it fooling, but you would. Jade was studying Dist's trap machine which made Lina younger. Lina was cooking as an apology to Guy and Jade. She was cooking the two's favourites, curry and some sort of food that she knew Guy would like; somehow remembering his fondness for sweet cake (isn't mentioned to have a favourite food, so I made it up). So, she decided to make a quick chocolate pudding, with strawberries in his. Guy was… uhh… repairing the boat (is that what you call it?)

"…and by the looks of it here, Dist's machine causes an living thing's fonons to shrink in both size and power, causing neural damage if the process is disturbed. That explains the memory loss at contact." Jade concluded as a muttering self-conference. Lina turned around.

"Time to eat!" She shouted. It was a few minutes later that she heard two pairs of footsteps walking towards her. Jade smirked and Guy's mouth was literally frothing with saliva. Lina cringed at the sight.

"Guy, don't you know it's impolite to slobber about your favourite food?" Lina sighed as she got a tissue. Guy immediately stepped out of his trance and nodded, sheepishly smiling. He took the tissue and wiped it away.

"Sorry, _mother_." He said, emphasising the point. Jade, though he didn't really show it was extremely happy. He did chuckle at the remark, however.

"What an excellent meal, Lady Lina." She smirked, though he didn't really see it, because it was EXTREMELY small. She was slightly annoyed at the title, but she didn't show that, either.

"Why thank you. Now, I must get some rest." And she left the boys to enjoy their meals… somehow abandoning her own. The two just ate what they liked that was on the table, devouring it like kids.

* * *

Luke, Tear, Anise and Realai managed to get themselves in the Oracle Headquarters when they identity scanned Tear and Anise to make sure that there weren't any mistakes made.

"Sergeant Grants, Guardian Tatlin you may pass." They, as in the guards, said. Tear was grateful that they didn't do other checks on her. They entered and found themselves standing in a large room, with sub rooms.

"Well, what's the plan?" Realai asked. Luke turned around and looked at Tear. Actually almost everyone did the exact same thing.

"What? Just because the three eldest people aren't here, doesn't necessarily mean that I have a have to think of a plan."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" After a long, quiet argument, Luke decided to go the most direct way they knew, enter, kill and save.

After an hour of slaughter, they finally found the door and rescued Ion and Natalia, running out of the decimated headquarters.

(Yes, I didn't want to add any detail to the rescue…. Because I couldn't really find anything to put in it, so…)

* * *

"So…explain again, Jade?" Guy asked. Jade turned around and sighed. Lina just stood there, nodding her head, as IF she was interested.

"The machine Dist made reduces the size of all fonons in the body by about one-seventh. This causes the person's appearance, age and mental capacity to also reduce by one-seventh of their original age. This is why Lina was transformed into a four year old. It probably rounded her age down to 28."

"Why?" Guy asked. Jade smirked and Lina spoke, since he knew that she knew the answer.

"I turned 29 recently. Actually, I turned 29 about one or two months ago. Just before I met you guys. This machine rounded it down because it was closer to my accurate age." Lina said, doing one of them professor movements in the professor moments. Jade just nodded.

"Ah, yes. As I was saying. Disturbing this process causes the fonons in the neural system to go crazy and will temporarily make the victim forget everything in their life. If one places them back in control, the person will gain their memories back."

"Is there a faster cure?" Guy asked out of curiosity. Jade shook his head, nodding.

"Ah… yes. Though it's not pretty."

"What is it?" Lina asked, quickly. She forgot to think. Two words. Stupid. Lina.

"Choice one is to smack or whack some sense into the person." Both adults cringed. Jade smirked at their reactions.

"Choice one? Is there a choice two?" Lina asked, out of her scared stance. Jade nodded.

"There are three. The second choice is rather… difficult." He flushed slightly, in which he was returned with two gaping mouths.

"What is it?" Lina asked. Again. Stupid. Lina.

"Be in contact with the one closest to you." Jade said, choosing his words CAREFULLY. He was about to say 'Stay with the one you love'. Though that would've cause a few problems… like loss of hearing. As if he didn't need more burdens. Guy stared blankly at Lina and Lina just found the closest chair near her and saw in it, basically hiding herself. Jade 'uh-hem'ed to get at least one persons attention.

"And the third one is… well to wait a few days to wear off." Jade said, concluding his speech. Guy just nodded, as if he was a student taking notes and Lina was nowhere to be found, apparently escaping while Jade was giving his 'speech'.

"Where'd Lina go?" Guy asked, looking around.

"Oh dear." And they left, searching for Lina.

* * *

Luke, Tear, Anise, Natalia and Ion went back to the Tartarus, which according to Anise was left at Daath Bay, northwest of the actual town. Realai didn't go with them, instead choosing to stay back in Daath, agreeing on helping Anise's parents out of their debt, using her name.

… Well, anyways. They got to the bay when they heard…

"LINA? WHERE ARE YOU?" From Guy. Everyone ran straight to the Tartarus and basically jumped inside to find Guy and Jade looking under every nook and cranny for Lina.

"What's going on?" Tear asked. The two males turned around and sighed.

"Finally... Some help…" Guy said, before passing out. Luke and co ran to his side, Jade checking his pulse.

"….Right. He's fine. He ended up like me. Now, shall we place him on a bed and continue looking for Lina now?" Jade said, smirking. The others nodded and they carried Guy, using a stretcher, to a bed, where he slept.

"So… what happened to Lina?" Luke asked. Jade sighed.

"She transformed back a few hours ago. As I was explaining the effects of Dist's machine and the cure, she hid and ran away. I have no idea what made her do that." Jade said, pushing his glasses up and sighing. He sat down and heard a squeak. No one else heard it, since no one reacted to it. So he did something about it. Everyone was happy that she transformed, so they didn't notice.

"Why don't you come out from hiding in there, Lina?" And everyone stared at Jade as if he was stupid. There was nowhere in the room that she could hide… except for....

Lina popped out from the wall, one that everyone, apart from Jade, didn't know that it existed. They were all shocked for the second time in a row.

"Let's go." She mumbled, everyone walking out immediately after she did.

* * *

After a few hours of travelling to the port near Grand Chokmah, since they knew it would've been protected, since Kimlasca had started a war, officially. On their way there, however, they were attacked. And it just so happened to be when Guy finally awoke.

"What's going on?" He asked, not really expecting a reply. But he got one.

"Guy! Go to the engine room! We need you to inspect the damage! And possibly fix it!" Jade's voice shouted through the intercom. He jumped out of the bed immediately and ran to the control room, then going down the stairs which was hidden under a wooden plate. Jade turned on the camera and communication in that room. After a few minutes of boredom, Lina finally decided to say something.

"What's going on in there, Guy?"

"We got hit by something, which is causing a partial engine failure! I managed to fix it, but…"

"But?" Jade asked.

"I don't know how long it will hold. What I'm saying is that it's temporary. I'd like to go to a port to get it fixed!" He shouted. Tear's head looked at the screen.

"The nearest port from here is…" She stopped to look at the map "Keterburg." Lina froze and Jade paled, slightly.

"Then let's go to Keterburg. I'm not letting the Tartarus sink. Is that alright with you Jade?" Luke said/asked. Jade turned around and sighed.

"That's fine with me." Lina looked at Jade carefully.

"Are you sure?" She whispered. He turned around and smiled, trying to make it more convincing.

"Yes." Though Lina never bought it, but played along.

"Fine, fine. Just don't come running to me if you do something stupid." She said, smiling and waving him off, walking to her room, to do a whole lot of thinking.

* * *

Me: .................

Tear: What's with the silence?

Me: .................

Luke: Hello? Earth to authoress?

Me: Huh? I'm sorry. I was just finishing off the next chapter.

Jade: So I was right. You write one chapter and post the one before it, right?

Me: Well, duh. What else would I do if I get stuffed and get a writers block?

Lina: I dunno... wait it out?

Me: Urgh... you people are so stupid.

Luke: She doesn't own ToA. She would LIKE a review or two.

Me: .................. writing next, next chapter.


	9. Part 9: The City of Reminiscence

**Part 9: The City of Reminiscence**

They eventually made it to the Keterburg port, but did a few things before getting off.

"I don't think we need disguises now… we need warm clothing." Anise stuttered, half of the group (everyone apart from the rest of the soldiers and Lina) agreed by nodding.

"…. I don't care. I still need my civilian clothes, so give me a moment." And she left, most likely heading for her room to change. Everyone looked at Jade, with one eyebrow up.

"She plans to do something. I'm not to tell, or she'll have my neck." He said, almost lying smoothly. Everyone cringed, Ion's face turned to horror and Luke jumped slightly.

"Right." And they left, changing into their normal clothes and all wearing cloaks. Everyone came back out in their normal clothes with red robes, except for Lina, who came back in her original disguise (black hair and pale blue contacts) and her Keterburg 'costume', which comprised of a purple parka, somewhat like a turtleneck, though it wasn't really thick, and had a zipper and a hood. Underneath the jacket, she wore a black short sleeved dress (has frills at the skirt, which are white at the tips of each frill) that went down to her knees and she wore knee high boots. Her mace was placed in her back pack and she had a beanie and a pair of long purple gloves.

"Are those your civilian clothes?" Anise asked, gleaming with anxiety of 'stealing' some more clothes from her place.

"Of course not. This is just to prove that I'm useful." She said, smiling. Everyone nodded and they left. They got off to find themselves in this situation. Many soldiers surrounding the Tartarus.

"We require ship registration and your identities."

"I'm Duchess Feldesca of Malkuth, here to see Governor Osborne." Lina said, all formal, stiff and stuff. The soldiers talked amongst themselves until Lina got annoyed.

"uhhh…Jade? A little help here?" She whispered to the Colonel. He smirked and nodded.

"I'm Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. I'm here to also see Governor Osborne."

"Oh, Colonel! But… we heard that you were killed at Akzeriuth." One of the soldiers exclaimed. They made a path for him, however.

"That is a top secret matter."

"You may inspect the ship as needed." Lina added. The soldiers nodded. Everyone started to walk using the path made.

"Do you need an escort to the city?" Another soldier asked. Both Jade and Lina turned around, with their heads only.

"We were both born here. We're familiar with the place." Jade and Lina said at the same time. Lina was mentally giggling and Jade just smirked.

They kept walking for a while until Luke decided to speak.

"So… Jade, you were born here?" He asked. Jade turned his head around, but someone else spoke before he did.

"He was." It was Lina who spoke, dryly, not really enjoying the fact she had to go to the city that she was basically trapped in all over again. She was all pale and stuff, but she struggled to hide it. Then she felt a tear reach her face. She turned around for a second before running away, tears shedding. Everyone was shocked at her outburst (well, more like tear burst, but whatever.).

"Jade? What's wrong with her?" Guy asked. Jade turned around.

"I have no clue, though I think I know where she is, so you kids can run off to the entrance of Keterburg." Jade said, running in the direction that she ran to.

"Well, at least he didn't complain about old age." Luke said, walking towards the town, following the signs.

* * *

Jade unsurprisingly found Lina crying near a tree, a particularly special tree. It was a birch, which was evergreen. Jade had always suspected it to be mutated, but didn't experiment on it, knowing it was Lina's special tree.

"Lina? What's wrong?" He asked. She turned around, eyes all red.

"I don't want to go. That place reminds me too much of my parents." She said, using the parka to wipe off her tears.

"…Don't you want to see Nephry?" He asked, kneeling down to her level, as she was sitting on her knees.

"Yes…" she said, getting up and hugging Jade. The Colonel was kinda stunned.

"Thanks." And she kissed him on the cheek before offering a hand. He smiled and took it and they walked to Keterburg where they found the rest of the gang standing there.

"Hey! Let's go!" Anise whined. The two smiled (and smirked) at her and they started to walk. Everyone was enjoying the buildings. Especially Anise.

"Whoa! I wonder who lives here!" She shouted, pointing at the mansion. Jade and Lina both smiled, though Lina was the one who spoke.

"I know." She said. Anise turned around.

"You do? I wonder if I could marry him!" She shouted. Jade chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure he'll take you up on the offer. Though he is in his thirties." Anise smiled.

"If it's the Colonel's, then I'll take him up on the offer!" She shouted. Oh, the girl had guts, but was way too naïve. Lina laughed and Jade just stood there.

"Knowing him, I don't think he'll take your offer up, but it isn't his." Lina said, still laughing. Jade pushed his glasses up.

"This is Emperor Peony's mansion." Jade said, smirking.

"Whoa! My future husband will be loaded!" Anise shouted. Lina and Jade smirked as everyone had shocked faces. Jade, had other ideas and started to lecture them on Peony's day.

They made it the Governor's office, all safe and sound, but not cold proof. Fortunately, the building was heated.

"May I see Governor Osborne? This is really important." Jade asked one of the maids.

"Ahh… Colonel Curtiss, of course you may." The maid directed the group to the room. The maid opened the door and they heard.

"Come in." The maid opened the door and they walked in.

"Brother!" The lady, who had brown hair tied up, wearing glasses and had a light shade of brown for pupils, exclaimed, standing up from her chair, suddenly making a screeching noise on the ground.

"Brother? Governor Osborne is actually Jade's younger sister?!" Luke exclaimed as almost everyone flinched (Lina didn't flinch).

"Hello, Nephry. It's been a while, not since your wedding, I believe." Jade said, smiling. The others had shocked faces, since they had never seen Jade's 'happy' face before.

"What's going on? They said that you were killed at Akzeriuth." Nephry stuttered, face full of worry, though she was really happy on the inside.

"Well… what happened, to make it short was when Akzeriuth fell, we were saved by Tear's fonic hymns, which protected us from the miasma and the crush of the fall. We ended up in Yulia City, and got out using the Tartarus and Yulia Road." Jade said, moving himself a little bit to the side and majority of the important people (actually, the only people who sat was Luke, Ion and Natalia). Tear stood near Natalia, Anise stood right next to Ion chair and Guy leaned next to the fireplace, which was on.

"Oh, by the way. May you introduce your friends, Jade?" Jade turned around and faked pouted.

"Comrades. And they can introduce themselves." He said, smiling evilly at the others. They took no chances and nodded, agreeing.

"Hello, I'm Luke. Luke fon Fabre." Luke said, smiling from the chair.

"Oh, so you're the replica…" She mumbled, though only Luke caught the words. He paled instantly and looked down. His smile quickly disintegrated and turned into a frown.

"I'm Princess Natalia of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear."

"I'm Sergeant Tear Grants of the Order of Lorelei" Both Anise and Tear gave up on being soo formal and stiff after their almost life threatening experience at the cathedral, in other words, Oracle Headquarters.

"I'm Anise Tatlin, Guardian of the Fon Master."

"I'm Fon Master Ion of the Order of Lorelei." Apparently, Ion still wanted to be formal.

"I'm Guy Cecil. I'm a servant from House Fabre."

"My name is Selphy Crudelisa. I served House Curtiss once." Lina said in that octave higher, squeaky voice. Apparently, Nephry was just as thick-headed as she once was. She didn't show anything at all, and she still smiled.

"We would like you to help us repair the Tartarus."

"Of course. We'll inspect the Tartarus. Repairs should be done by tomorrow. As for now, please stay at the hotel. I'll book rooms at the inn for you. This is a tourist city, so there shouldn't be any problems here. Once you're done, please see Emperor Peony. He's been very worried." Nephry said, smiling. Apparently, the two siblings were completely different. The nice and considerate to the sarcastic and inappropriate.

"Oh? Didn't everyone think I was dead?"

"His Majesty was the only one to believe that you were alive."

"Thank you." And they left, well almost. Lina and Luke were lagging behind.

"Luke." Nephry whispered. He turned around.

"I would like to see you again, alone, if possible, today." She whispered. Luke nodded, leaving the room. Lina stayed back, smiling.

"You never learn, do you?" Lina asked, in that normal voice of hers. Nephry looked at her, as if she was crazy.

"Never learn what?" She retorted. Lina sighed and took off the wig. Then she took off the contacts, revealing her light brown hair and pale green eyes. It was then that she understood.

"Lina?"

"It's nice to see you again, Nephry." She said, hugging the woman, who was about the same age.

"But I thought you died eleven years ago…" Lina sighed. She left go of the woman and recited her tale.

"A few days before my parents attack, I escaped the house, for many reasons. I was wondering around the place until I stumbled upon House Curtiss. Coincidently, your brother was there, and his adoptive father saved me, and I got a job as a maid. No one knew my identity, as I was disguised. I've been your brother's servant for a few years, until I let go of the job, becoming a mercenary." Lina said, looking at the woman.

"Please, come back later tonight, as I need help telling Luke about Jade's past."

"Sure." And she left. She was on her own, though she knew the place well. Instead of heading to the inn, she went to one of the old mansions, getting a key from her pocket and opened the gate, and the house, where she sat on one of the couches.

Jade noticed that Lina hadn't come back from Nephry's place, so he searched on his own will. He noticed the gate to a mansion was opened, which wasn't supposed to be, so he investigated.

"Who's there?" Lina shouted, picking up her mace. Jade immediately dissolved his spear and walked into the light.

"Oh, it's you." She mumbled, throwing her mace onto the couch.

"I wondered why the gate was opened…" Jade said, though he was interrupted but a shout.

"Is anybody home!?" A familiar voice echoed. Lina sighed and walked out, where the rest of the group was.

"Colonel? Lina? What are you two doing breaking and entering?" Anise asked. Lina laughed and Jade smirked.

"Breaking and entering? Never. This is my mansion. If you want, we could stay here… though no one's been in it for twenty-four years."

"I'll stick with the inn…" Luke mumbled. Everyone nodded in agreement and they left, heading to the inn.

* * *

"When the man said Dr. Balfour, he meant you, right Colonel?" Anise asked. The said nodded.

"Yes."

"But who is Dr. Neis?"

"That's Dist." Ion said. Everyone was shocked, well apart from Lina and Jade, that is.

"But I thought… what's Dist's real name?" Tear asked, face written 'CURIOUS' in bold letters on her face.

"Dist's name is Saphir Ortion Neis." Jade said.

"But the Ortion Cavern we went to was…" Anise noted.

"Only an idiotic, stupid, bastard like him would name a cavern like that." Lina said, bashing the table, slightly.

"Well, I'm going to excuse myself. I must get some rest." Ion said, him and Anise standing up and leaving.

"I must too." Natalia said, doing the same. They were followed in suit by Lina and the others. A little bit later, Lina left, no one but Jade noticing as she headed for Nephry's place. A little bit after Lina arrived, Luke did too.

"As I heard from rumors that you were a replica, I must tell you about my brother's past. Lina, are you going to help?" Nephry asked, as the three sat on individual armchairs.

"Of course. Now Jade created fomicry-" Lina started.

"Jade created fomicry?" Luke asked, as if he didn't know.

"You didn't know?"

"Yes. Of course I didn't."

"Well, Jade created fomicry, when I was three, when he made a copy of Nephry's broken doll, to soothe her tears. He was nine at the time." Lina continued. Luke kept silent, listening attentively.

"I felt this… darkness glooming in his heart then, and then I knew he was twisted."

"What changed him was our teacher, Professor Nebilim. We used to play with her when Lina was five, though she never really knew who she was until she almost turned six. She was nice though. She changed his mind. Though she could use the Seventh Fonon, something the he could not. He tried, but ended up using a fonic arte that he couldn't control." Lina knew to take over here.

"He used the fonic arte that fatally wounded the Professor. Instead of healing or helping her, he decided to make a replica. That replica was a failure. The real professor died."

"I don't know if my brother still wants to resurrect the Professor still. But I think deep down, he does." Nephry finished.

"We're sorry to take up soo much of your time, Luke. Thanks for listening, though." Lina truly finished. Luke shook his head.

"No problems. I better get going." And Luke left, closely followed by Lina, who ran and caught up with him. They ended up walking back together to the inn, where they were met by a dark room and a person.

"So I presume Nephry's told you, Luke. And you helped, Lina."

"T-told me what?" Luke asked, his lie worsening.

"Huh? I wasn't at Nephry's. I was home, getting my photo album." She said, taking out a book which held something, definitely pictures. Jade nodded.

"You're a naughty boy, telling lies like that." Jade said. Luke froze.

"And Lina, I thought someone taught you better not to lie." Lina froze, but regained her posture faster.

"And I thought someone told you not to eavesdrop." She said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Luke gave in.

"Was Nephry's words true? That you still want to resurrect the professor?" Luke asked. Lina sighed as she sat down next to Jade and opened the photo album.

"For the record, I don't really want to resurrect the Professor." Lina just sat there, staring at one specific photo. Didn't avert her eyes away from the picture, nor did she speak.

"After I killed Professor Nebilim, I was adopted into House Curtiss, since my powers and abilities were recognised. On the battlefield, I killed others with fonic artes that adults found hard to use." Jade continued on, not looking at anyone.

"What made you change?" Luke asked.

_Flashback_

_Jade was severely wounded from many experiments he had done to himself. He had bandages wrapped around his abdomen and was unconscious. Emperor Peony just sat by his side, watching him until he awoke. When he did wake, he was immediately met with Peony's fist._

"_Stupid! The people who've died won't come back to life! How would Saphir, Nephry or I feel if you died? How would Lina feel if she was to see you too early?" He exclaimed. Jade just stared at the Emperor and said nothing, too petrified to do anything._

"Emperor Peony did that?"

"Yes." Lina hadn't spoken for about ten minutes now, as she was still staring at the same picture. Well, it was all silent from her until…

"DAMN PICTURE!" She shouted, shocking the heck out of Luke and Jade before bursting out of the inn, dropping the book, which coincidently was left on the same page. It was lucky to be covered in a plastic, as there were splodges of tears all over it.

* * *

Me: Ok, forget about the last skit. I decided to place my emergency chapter up today... and write two chapters today.

Guy: But isn't that a big risk?

Me: What are you doing here?

Guy: Eeek!

Natalia: You didn't have to do that.

Me: Of course I did. Did you hear what he said to me? (reference.... a few chapters ago)

Natalia: Oh. Where;s Luke and Tear?

Jade: They had to go see the director.

Lina: They don't know what they've got. The authoress doesn't own ToA. She would really like a few reviews.

Me: Oh, I wish them luck.

Jade: ....A lot of luck isn't necessary.

Me, Lina: Oh Jade, you're evil.


	10. Part 10: The Merry Stop To Grand Chokmah

**Part 10 The Merry Stop to Grand Chokmah!**

The picture that was shown to have blotches on it was a picture of a shining rock in the background, with a tall man with short blonde hair and green eyes, smiling. He was wearing a uniform which somewhat looked similar to General Frings's one, except the colours were different. Next to him was girl, a few years younger with short light brown hair and green eyes smiling and what she had appeared to be waving. Next to her, was a little girl who had long blonde hair and pale blue eyes, the only one in the family who didn't have light green eyes.

"This is…" Jade muttered as he flipped through the album. Luke just stared at the pictures.

"What is it, Jade?" Jade placed the book in his pocket and turned around.

"This is Lina's private photo album…. Though, what's with the shining rock?" He asked himself.

"Don't ask me… maybe we should go find Lina." Luke said, getting up.

"…And why is it always me?" Jade muttered as he got up and the two walked out of the inn.

"Do you know anything about Lina's brother?" Luke asked, while they were looking for Lina.

"Late Duke Karima Feldesca. He was a General in the Malkuth military until he died at the destruction of the Gardios family, where he was visiting his cousin on his fifth birthday, representing his family." Jade said, as if he was quoting something. Actually he was quoting it from something.

"Is that all you know?" Luke asked.

"This happened… just around seventeen years ago. I don't think anyone had a vivid memory back then, since the Hod War." Jade continued on, flatly.

"Right." And they kept walking into the darkness, with the occasional splash of light every few meters.

* * *

After spending the whole entire night, they found Lina fast asleep behind the statue, on the ground. Luke, under Jade's lame excuse of old bones, ended up carrying her to her old mansion, since the inn was by now, closed. They placed her on the couch, rummaging the place for as many blankets as possible.

"How did she survive? I mean, its freezing cold here. I thought she would've gotten hypothermia." Luke said, chuckling slightly before he fell asleep on the ground. Jade just sighed.

"Maybe the younger doesn't have as much stamina as we do…" He said, before the blacked out. Coincidently, Lina woke up when they fell asleep.

"uhhh… guys?"

No response.

"Oh well, let's see if I can do something…" And she somehow levitated them onto beds in the upstairs rooms, using her fonic artes.

"Maybe I should get my photo album back while I'm at it." She muttered to herself as she summoned it from Jade's pocket.

"Now… what should I do?" She sat there for a few minutes, fidgeting before she got entirely bored and took out her mace and began her 'practise' session, which included annihilating inanimate objects that she hated.

"Eternal Fury's Light!" She whispered harshly, as a small light emitted from her mace, and shot at the wall, revealing a chest. She looked at the chest blankly before walking up to it. Upon touch, her fonons felt weak and she began to feel light headed, but she fought to stay up, as she looked in the chest. Now, everyone would expect money, but there was a key and a note.

_Lia,_

_Take this key and open my private room. There you will find a mace. It is yours to keep. This was supposed to be your birthday present, but… I apologise for not giving it to you._

_Cheers,_

_You-Know-Who! _(Couldn't help putting this up. I don't own HP)

She smiled at the note, getting the joke and took the key, placing it in her pocket. At that moment, she heard someone walk down the stairs. She already knew who it was, but she didn't do anything, except chant something. A few seconds later…

BOOM!

Jade just stood at the bottom of the steps with snow on his face. Then he started to spit it out. Lina just stood there, note in hands laughing so loudly, it also woke Luke up.

"Gotcha." She said, before picking up her mace and leaving. Luke just stood at the top of the stairs, laughing at Jade. Jade stood there, staring into mid-space, while spitting out snow.

* * *

After a few hours, they left Keterburg. They, however, had to make Jade ingest some couch syrup. You though it would be easy as pie, did you? Actually, it was soo hard, that they had to put it in Jade's water for lunch, and make sure it smelt and tasted like nothing. Thank Lina for paying attention at home-schooling lessons.

"WHAT!? You've been in Keterburg longer than I have and you get sick soo easily after an ice attack?" Lina screeched in laughter. Everyone else started to laugh with her. Jade was red in the face, sneezing occasionally. After their 'laughing' fit, Lina had forced the Colonel to sleep, threatening in one or actually two ways.

"Point One: Strawberries + Lina = Disaster = Jade Sleep To Forfeit It.

Point Two: Tear + Sick Jade = Sleep. (Not in the wrong way. I meant Nightmare + Jade = Instant Sleep)" That was the Lina Feldesca Theory No. 1.

"Ok, ok. I'm going" Jade said, exasperated at the 'motherly' tone. Ion just sat there, watching the 'couple' with a smile on his face. And Natalia made the understatement.

"They're like a married couple. The sarcastic and the persistent." And that's why we love Natalia, isn't it. Now, it just so happened to be Guy to hear this.

"…Though she is my cousin, I'll have to agree with you." He whispered back. Guy cringed at the fact that Jade might be his relative in the near future, but pushed that thought into the 'That better not happen in my lifetime' box.

"Lukeeee~! Can I have some money to spendddd~!" Anise chimed at Luke. He stood there, shaking his head in confusion.

"Sure?" He said, taking out some money. Tear walked up to him and smacked him, right on the head.

"You don't know anything, do you?" She said, angrily. He stood there, unable to move. It was then, Lina made a statement.

"Hey, you two! Stop having the 'family fight' and let's eat, before I witness your marriage!"

Guy laughed.

Tear blushed.

Luke petrified.

Lina smiled with satisfaction.

Anise was on the floor, twitching with laughter.

Ion was sitting there, oblivious at the situation.

Natalia ate.

Mieu was hiding in Lina's bag.

Jade slept.

…And it took a few minutes to regain the situation.

"uhhh….let's eat?" Lina said, breaking the awkward silence. Ion nodded, staring blankly at Anise, who was still twitching on the ground. Luke was still petrified. Tear broke out of her stance, nervously. Guy was silently chuckling, watching Mieu, who was flying around. Jade slept.

They all (excluding Jade) ate something Guy made, thanking Lorelei and Yulia that the royals weren't on cooking duty today. It was all tense, so Lina decided to do something about the situation.

"You know, I can spill one thing about Peony." Lina said, smirking. Everyone turned around at her, listening with content and curiosity.

"Have anyone of you noticed that His Majesty is in his thirties and not married yet?" Lina asked. Everyone nodded.

"His first love was Jade's younger sister, Nephry. Though her status wouldn't allow Peony to marry her." Lina continued on, smirking.

"So, he refuses to marry because he still loves Nephry?" Natalia asked. Well, nice to meet you again, Miss Obvious.

"Basically, yes. Though, please, swear to Yulia that you never tell anyone this. Or Jade will have my blood."

"Oh, how rude. I won't kill a noble. Especially one of my own country." Everyone turned around.

And yet again. The sequence goes as…

Guy stared.

Tear wondered.

Luke paled.

Lina sat there, paled, petrified and scared out of her wits end.

Anise smirked for some blackmail.

Ion was afraid for Lina's mental health.

Natalia sat there, processing the information.

Mieu flew straight into the closest bag, which turned out to be Lina's.

Jade wore the dubbed 'Evil Grin of Death'.

….And it took a few minutes until someone, or something broke the silence.

"We're there!" Guy shouted, as he heard the Tartarus land in the dock.

"…uhh…where was I? Let's go…." Lina muttered, as she got her things and they got off.

* * *

They walked to the Theor Forest's Entrance, but they were stopped…. With a big gate.

"State your presence." One of the guards said.

"I'm Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division of the Malkuth Imperial Forces." Jade stated simply. The guards lowered their weapons.

"But we were told that you were killed…" Jade stopped him.

"Governor Osborne of Keterburg will vouch for my existence, if needed."

"We can let you in Colonel… but…"

"HUH? This is Fon Master Ion- "Anise shouted, but Lina stopped her.

"Malkuth doesn't have good ties with the Order of Lorelei. But don't worry, I'll do it." Lina whispered before pulling her disguise off.

"I'm Duchess Tilina Galan Feldesca. I request that you me and my companions in, not into Grand Chokmah, but at least into House Feldesca." Lina said serious face and all.

"We'll have to check with His Majesty with that. Please, wait out here. Colonel, you may come in." Anise pouted, Luke leaned, Tear stared at Mieu, Guy leaned and Lina waited. Natalia was fixing her bow. But all of the sudden, Guy pulled Luke, just in time.

The tree split in half, revealing Largo.

"Ah… finally, my first encounter with a Six-God General who isn't willing to talk, gives us a surprise attack and isn't an idiot." Lina muttered as she got out her mace.

"If you think I'm alone, you better turn around." And they saw Guy's eyes mist over, before he suddenly struck Luke.

"…..Largo, Largo the Black Lion, is it not? You may have fon slotted my friend, Jade but you haven't done it to me!" Lina shouted, as she started to chant.

"Anise! Protect Ion!" Tear shouted. Anise nodded and transformed Tokunaga and she protected them from the Oracle Soldiers.

"Absolute!" Lina shouted and there was a vat of ice coming out, raining onto the Oracle Soldiers.

Suddenly there was an earthquake. Tear turned around and saw a sparkle.

"Natalia! Over there!" She shouted as she pointed at the tree. The said nodded and fired an arrow, hitting the target. Sync fell.

"….So the earthquake released my identity." Sync said, pulling the arrow out of his arm. Guy, who was about strike Luke down, dropped his sword and fell, collapsing on Luke. Sync and Largo were just about to attack, when the Malkuth army came about.

"Largo! We have to go!" And they escaped, using the 'ninja' way.

"The Six-God Generals… what are they doing here?" Jade asked himself.

"We need to help Guy!" Luke shouted. Natalia immediately got up.

"I'll heal him." But Ion stopped her.

"That's impossible. The Seventh Fonon won't do anything." Ion said.

"Ion! Do you know what wrong with him?" Luke asked. He nodded, face sullen.

"It's the curse slot. This one was caused by Daathic Fonic Artes. I'm probably the one able to cure him."

"Daathic artes are artes only usable by Fon Masters…" Lina muttered, getting the point almost immediately.

"I'll need a place to perform it, however."

"Are you sure, Ion?"

"I'm the only one who can help." Lina stood there, thinking.

"I've got an idea. Ion, Guy, Anise and I can stay at my place, while the rest can get an audience with Peony scheduled for tomorrow, about in the afternoon. I'll take them to Grand Chokmah tomorrow." Lina said, having one of them light bulb moments.

"Why can't I come?" Luke asked arrogantly.

"Curse slots work on memories. Guy must've hated you soo much that he wanted to kill you." Ion said, smiling sadly.

"WHAT!" And that was the plan.

* * *

Lina sighed as she once again, got called 'Duchess', though she was rightfully the one, anyways. She was laying in bed, reading a book on her family's history and the ceremonial fonic hymn, the other fonic hymn that ran in her family, which was to be received when one became a duke, or a duchess, in her case.

"….I'll have to do my job." She muttered, before turning off the lights and falling fast asleep.

Ion did heal Guy that afternoon, though Lina felt tired, for some unknown reason, so she didn't witness the healing.

She woke up earlier than anyone, since her parents relocated themselves in Baticul, since her mother was from Kimlasca, and her father from Malkuth. So, you could say she was half-half. She went down to the basements, to her brother's private room, which only had a slot for a key, which she had. She opened it and found herself in a small room, which, as written, had a large pedestal, with a mace, as written on it. What shocked her was that the mace was thin and white, with a star on the top. It was illuminating a yellow colour, with bluish sparkles. She picked it up and it immediately shone a green colour and a note fell out. She placed her old mace on the pedestal and opened the note and read it.

_Lia,_

_If you're reading this, you got my note in Keterburg. This is the Star Crusher, something I got custom made for you, which I was supposed to give you. Our sister is alive. That's what I was supposed to tell you, but I will have to leave for Gailardia's birthday as a representative._

_Cheers,_

_You-Know-Who!_

She smiled and took the mace, leaving the basement. She already found Guy making something.

"Guy? Do you by chance know where my sister is?" She asked. Guy turned around.

"I can send a message for you to her." That was all he said. This gave Lina a positive answer.

"Could you send that she can come back, as Lady of the house, until I come back?"

"Of course." And he left, sending a carrier pigeon to her.

By that time Guy came back, everyone was eating.

"Guy. How are you feeling?" Lina asked, as if she was a psychiatrist.

"Fine." He said, after gulping down a piece of bacon.

* * *

They eventually left, after Anise got some things from House Feldesca, mainly some new clothes and a dress or two. As she directed them out of the forest, she got the feeling of serenity, which meant only one thing.

"Rea?" She said into midair. The said stopped walking and turned around.

"Lina?" And they hugged, doing all of that 'family reunion stuff'

* * *

Me: I was tired of the seriousness, so I decided to do a random chapter which has nothing to do with romance.

Luke: Right.

Lina: Is that why you made me a theory?

Jade: Most likely.

Me: Why? Why did I have to make Lina love her theories?

Tear: That's your fault.

Me: Oh. How did it go with the director yesterday?

Luke, Tear: Don't. Don't. Don't ask.

Me: You sound as evil as Barbatos.

Jade: Oh, don't remind me too. He's soo nice.

Lina: Jade, be quiet.

Me: Oh, so what happened in the Tales of Innocence: Voice Adventure thingy and Viva! Tales of...! Peach Gumi?

Jade: I S.A.I.D DON'T REMIND ME! INDIGNATION!

Lina: Oh dear.

Me: (fried) I didn't know it works here.... I'm pretty sure I turned off the fonon use...

Guy: She doesn't own ToA. She would really, really like reviews. Though its not forced.


	11. Part 11: A Capital Without Its Nobles?

**Part 11 A Capital Without Its Nobles?**

Group 'A', which comprised of Jade, Tear, Luke, Natalia and Mieu, had made it to the capital by night time, along with General Frings, who wasn't mentioned until now. That was mainly because no one knew of his presence, until the two groups parted.

"Luke… it's about time we told you Guy's real identity…" Natalia said, as they walked to the inn.

"Guy is Gailardia Galan of House Gardios. He was from Hod, originally." Jade said, as Luke and Tear stopped walking with shocked faces.

"I think tomorrow, he'll tell you more." And that small, small conversation ended as they entered the inn, and General Frings went home.

* * *

Group 'B', which comprised of Lina, Guy, Ion and Anise got out of the forest in what Lina had said, was record time. They made it to Grand Chokmah by noon.

"Whoa! Look at this place!" Anise shouted. Everyone else laughed (or chuckled, in Guy's case).

"What? Haven't you been to Grand Chokmah before, Anise?" Lina asked.

"No. I've been in Daath, doing stuff for the Oracle Knights." She answered back, lowering her voice at the 'Oracle Knights' part.

"Well, they should be at the palace by now, so let's go!" Lina said, running in that direction. Everyone else shrugged as they ran to the palace.

They got to the palace a few minutes later, panting. Well, almost. Anise was panting, Ion was too. Guy seemed fine and Lina was inbetween, just huffing.

"Let's go. I'll get something for you when we're inside." And they walked in. They walked upstairs and found themselves at the door, with guards guarding it.

"Is His Majesty having an audience right now?" Lina asked one of them. One of them nodded.

"Did they ask for my presence?" She asked, as she took off her disguise. The guards gasped.

"uhh…yes, they did. Walk right in." And they let her in. They found themselves in a room with two chairs, Emperor Peony sitting in one, and the other one being empty. Jade was standing near the steps and the others were in front of them. There were two other people standing near the other side of the steps. They were in a heated discussion, so no one actually noticed them walk in. Well, that was until…

"Hello Peony!" Lina shouted as she waved, getting all of their attentions.

"Finally, got your attention. We've been here for minutes now." Lina said, smiling.

"Are you serious?" Luke asked. Lina grinned, almost like Jade's 'Evil Grin of Death'.

"Of course not." And she laughed.

"Finally. You're here. We thought you weren't coming at all." Jade noted as he smirked.

"Well, we'll just explain what we've been talking about. This is the plan. We'll go to St. Binah and rescue the citizens while General Nordheim's army will deal with the Kimlascan Army. Is that fine with you guys?" Luke said/asked. Lina nodded, as did the rest of her 'team'.

"That's fine with me."

"Oh look! There's a cute little girl here! What's your name, sweetheart? Want to marry me?" And Lina groaned doing something even Jade wouldn't dare do. Even though Anise nodded in anticipation, Lina grabbed the book from her bag and whacked the Emperor's head with it.

"What in the name of Yulia are you doing flirting with an innocent girl?" Lina screeched. Everyone, and I mean everyone winced at the volume.

"I get it, I get it… don't hurt me…" Peony whined. He whimpered in pain. Lina sighed as she sang her fonic hymn, to basically heal him.

"Well, that's done. Now we go to St. Binah." She said, dusting her hands.

"Jade, I'd like to talk to you later, ok?" Peony concluded.

"Yes, Your Majesty." And they left the audience room. Luke started to laugh like a maniac as Lina turned red with embarrassment.

"…sorry. My instincts acted first, I guess…" Lina said, softly. Jade grinned with finally some blackmail against the Emperor.

"Well, let's go see his Majesty." Jade chirped and they all started to walk, with unison groans.

* * *

Everyone ended up going with Jade with meet Peony.

"Do we have to come?" Natalia asked. Lina nodded.

"Apparently so. I think he was actually being serious for one. Jade, where are we meeting him again?" Lina stated/asked.

"His chamber."

'Oh, well, when we enter, don't be frightened." And they entered the chamber.

Peony's room was a mess. And guess what made that mess? Rappigs, of course. Tear blushed at the animals, since they were, well cute, in her opinion.

"Ah, Jade. You're here."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"These are…." Anise started.

"Rappigs." Guy concluded.

"These are my pets. Aren't they cute?" There was a silence, and they were only met by splashes of water.

"Well, there's Saphir, Nephry, Aslan, and Gelda." And then he went on his knees, picking up the two rappigs.

"Hello, Lina and my cute, little Jade." And hell went up. Lina sighed and laughed, picking up her 'alter ego'.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Lina." It was like she was talking to herself. This rappig had green eyes, so it was easily noticeable. Jade just stood there, as he sighed and smacked himself.

"Your Majesty, is it necessary to use names of people you know? Especially using someone's sister's name."

"Of course. It's easier to remember." And then hell went back down with a splash of anger and Lina stepped out of her trance.

"The heavens may be smiling on you, but I'll have to agree with Jade here." Lina said smirking as she took out the photo album she had previously hit him with.

"uhhh…. Never mind."

"Is this why we were brought here?" Jade asked, exasperated.

"Ah, I forgot. Gailardia."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I heard that House Gardios was destroyed during the Hod War." Guy immediately sighed and got down to one knee.

"My deepest apologies. As a member of a Count House, which has ruling rights, I should've returned to your side, instead of letting my emotions get the best of me. And that is why I'm prepared to take any blame for abandoning you." Luke had a shout of 'Guy!' after he turned around. But something else made everyone turn around.

"And I would like to say the same." Everyone stared and had a shocked face to the source, but they found her on one knee too, not looking up nor anywhere but the ground.

"My deepest apologies. Being from an even higher status, I should've taken my role seriously, instead of letting my mentally disabled parents to the work. I know I should've been to your side, Your Majesty, but I haven't. I've let my country down. And that is why I ask for your forgiveness and will take anything you throw at me for letting you down." She said, laughing dryly halfway, but her head down, facing the floor, not showing any sign of stopping. Peony just laughed.

"Hey, I'm not blaming you two. Though, if you would, Lina, you could start doing one part of your job now….. man I can see how you two are related." Everyone stared at her. She just nodded.

"……Right. House Gardios's rights, properties and money are in our hands, since we are your only living relatives. If you want, I can reinstate your rank and title now." Lina said, smiling at Guy. He stared blankly at her, as did everyone. There were a few whispers of 'she can do that' (from Anise) and 'she's powerful' (from Luke).

"……May I hold the rank of Count and still travel?" Guy asked, shocking Lina. She turned around and got up, facing Peony.

"Can he do that? I can, since I have my sister taking over the house, dealing with some issues, but I can't put the rights of the Count on her shoulders as well…"

"Of course he can. He can have the rights and stuff… though, since his only living relatives are your family, he needs a replacement."

"….I'll do it, then." Lina said, sighing lifting her hands up in defeat.

"Why?" Both Guy and Peony asked.

"I'm only doing this, because I fit the role. I can teach you how your job works, until you get the hang of it. Then you can fully take over. Is it possible to send it via pigeon carrier?" She asked, single-handedly referring to Peony.

"Why not?"

"Then I reinstate your rank to Count Gailardia Galan of House Gardios."

"Guy's a count now?" Anise asked, loudly with excitement.

"Yes."

"Oh, Lina. I'm going to send a powerful helper to you for St. Binah."

"Got it, Peony." She smiled and left.

"Lina? Why do you call his Majesty, Peony?" Natalia asked as they walked out of the castle. Lina turned around and started to walk backwards.

"Because, I don't really like formality, and he doesn't either, so we don't call each other by titles. Jade, on the other hand has to, since he is a soldier." And that conversation ended.

* * *

They arrived at St. Binah the next day. Everyone was running around town shouting something along the lines of…

"Children, elderly, injured! Go to the carriages!"

Once almost the whole entire town was evacuated, Lina was with the other citizens, watching over them as Jade spoke with the Field Marshal.

"Jade! They want you over there! Oh? Are there anymore citizens? I could go look ag—"

"There is no need, Luke." Lina said, smiling. Then there was an earthquake and a circle encircled the town, mainly separating Lina and the citizens with Luke and Jade.

"Lina! Field Marshal!" Luke shouted as he tried to reach for them.

"Luke!" Jade pulled him back and made sure he was safe.

"Luke! Don't! We're ok! I'll send them back up!" Lina shouted, half-lying as St. Binah went down. Suddenly, above Luke and co, there was an airship hovering above them.

Cue the 'Guy' moment of scariness.

"Whoa! I've heard about this. People in Sheridan had just recovered Dawn Age airships."

"I've also heard about them." Ion said. Suddenly, it landed and a girl came out.

"Everyone, come in!" And they all ran for the Albiore. When it got off the ground….

"Who are you?" Anise asked.

"I'm Noelle, I got words from both the Feldesca House and His Majesty to help."

"So that was Lina and His Majesty's plans…" Jade muttered.

* * *

As the town of St. Binah fell, Lina had trouble keeping the citizens safe. That was until she saw something.

"Finally. It came." She muttered as she shouted for the people to go around her.

"I don't know if this is going to work, but there is nothing to lose." She said to the Field Marshal retiree, who just nodded.

"Your brother told me it would work, so you better try it." And she did.

"From the skies to the earth. I ask thee to send all to use the stars to send these to a place of serenity…." And slowly, her mace started to light up.

"Teleport!" (…….wow! what an epic name…. I've lost all inspiration. I don't own ToP) A glyph appeared from under her and the people around her started to disappear. She too, was disappearing. She heard a voice however.

"It worked. Congratulations, Lina. You just learned Teleport!" (had to put that in too… it was too good of an opportunity)

* * *

All of the sudden, on the Albiore, at first there was eight. Then there were nine, and then the rest of them appeared.

"EHHH?!? What is going on?" Luke shouted, obviously shocked.

"Please, don't freak out. This was my doing." Everyone turned around at the source, and they had smiled plastered on their faces.

"Lina! You're alright." And the irony switch turned green. She fell.

"Lina? Are you ok?" Tear asked.

"I'm…. fine." And she blacked out.

* * *

Lina awoke to find herself on a bed of flowers, the plain was green.

"Lia? Are you ok?" She got up and turned around. There was her brother.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" She shouted. The figure changed.

"It is." And she screamed.

* * *

Lina found herself waking up in reality, by a scream. The only person in the room, just so happened to be Jade, who just so happened to cover his ears.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're on the Albiore. We're on our way to Chesedonia to the refugee camp there." Jade said, in a monotone voice.

"Good. I would've thought the next place I would've ended up in was the sea." Jade looked as her curiously, but ignored her anyways.

"When did you get a powerful weapon, by the way?" Jade asked, as he pointed to the Star Crusher.

"….please, don't do anything with it. It's the last thing I have of my brother. Apparently, it has the power of Luna and Aska, two spirits that doesn't exist here anymore." Lina said, pulling out a book from her bag.

"I won't. There isn't any point studying a mace. Now, are you going back to sleep, or will you get up." He said, as he smirked at her.

"I'm getting up, alright?"

* * *

Me: .......... I'm running low on imagination, definitely.

Tear: Are you sure?

Me: Yup.

Jade: But the you seem to have done well in the next chapter, well, idea wise.

Me: Have you been looking through my notebook and my pictures?

Jade: Yes. Lina took it and gave it to me.

Me: I never knew.... stupid OC.

Lina: I'm sorry. Jade threatened me.

Me: Then I'll punish you two in the next chapter.

Luke: She doesn't own ToA. She now wants reviews, because she is in a bet on something with her brother.

Me: ...........you heard?

Jade: Of course.

Me: You're really going to be strange by the time I finish with you two in the next chapter.


	12. Part 12: Love's A Child's Game

**Part 12 Love's A Child's Game**

Lina had two choices. Either she goes to Grand Chokmah, or to Baticul. She had her parents in Baticul and her sister in Grand Chokmah. Then she thought. Is it worth going to Baticul? Mohs will be there. It would definitely be dangerous to hang around there. So she took the safer route and went with Jade, Anise and Ion to Grand Chokmah. And she went to even out the groups, too.

As they dropped off the 'Baticul' group, Lina was doing… some personal matters. Actually, she was just changing out of her 'Keterburg' costume, which was going to be way too stuffy for her, especially when they get to Grand Chokmah.

"Excuse me, Lina." She heard through the door, as the person opened it. She forgot to say something, so she screamed. Jade immediately turned red, redder than the tips of Asch's hair. And was seriously red. There was a pair more footsteps. Though before they could walk in on the awkward situation, Lina pushed him out and locked the door.

"PERV!" She shouted, blushing bright, bright red. Jade hadn't really been in a situation like this before, so he really, did nothing.

"What happened, Jade?" Ion asked. Anise, who actually heard what Lina had exclaimed, giggled.

"Wow! I didn't know the Colonel was that perv to look at naked women…" Anise said, in a teasing tone. Jade didn't say anything, though in his head, the words of 'I'm scarred' and 'What the heck was I doing' floating in his head. At least he didn't react how he would've imagined Luke would've.

_Jade Vision……_

………_.To cut things short. Luke walks in, when Tear is changing, immediately gets smacked and punished._

"_Fortune's Arc!" And he would go up (spirit wise) and faint (body wise), making a big ordeal._

"_I'M SCARRED!" Would be going through the room after a few hours._

"uhhh………" Jade started, but Lina came out, wearing her usual cleric's garb. She wasn't really happy, and the blush she wore, was gone. Instead, replaced with a sudden change from unhappy to death glare.

"Jade, may I speak to you for a second?" Lina asked, in a sweet, chirpy voice. Jade, who wasn't real responsive at the moment, just nodded, scared and knowing what she could do, didn't use any sarcasm at all, since he didn't want to risk his life.

She pulled him into a room. A store room, to be specific.

"Now… might I ask what did you want me for?"

"I was to tell you that we were just leaving Baticul."

"Oh. Well, now the speaking part of this is done, the other half…." And Jade gulped.

"INDIGNATION! POW HAMMER! TIDAL WAVE! PHOTON! PERVERT SPRAY!" …..Now one attack in there doesn't exist. Replace it with Tempest's High Court, and you have a fried Jade.

"I'm satisfied now. Well, Jade. I've taught you one thing. Never. Ever. Enter. Without. Waiting. For. A. Come. In." And she left, not daring to even healing him yet. And then she walked back in.

"Whoops, almost forgot." And she sang, healing him.

"That was to avoid suspicious looks from the other innocent two." And she left, smiling, satisfied. She met the other two outside the store room.

"So… how's the Colonel?" Anise asked, grinning.

"Fine…. Wait. You heard my shouts, didn't you?"

"Of course. Even Noelle heard them."

"Then you know what happened." And Jade didn't speak to Lina for a long time.

* * *

They got their audience and met the Emperor, again.

"Ah… Lina, Jade, Fon Master and his guardian."

"Yes, Peony?" Lina asked.

"Nothing, nothing. So, what's the report?"

"We rescued the citizens of St. Binah, though the town itself is now in the Qliphoth." Lina said, in a monotone voice.

"And can someone explain here why Jade isn't saying anything?"

"The Colonel walked in when Lina was changing. She called him a perv and punished him using fonic artes. She healed him and he refuses to speak to her." Peony smiled with blackmail information.

"Whoa! Little girl… you're cool AND cute! Do you want to marry me? 'Cause I like you already." Lina didn't dare stop him. It didn't feel right. Though Jade 'uh-hem'ed.

"You two are awfully quiet today… And what's with Jade here? He isn't being sarcastic."

"Well, let me ignite that passion." And Lina walked up to Jade, took out her trusty photo album and whacked him with it.

"You dumbhead! Get yourself together! Quiet Jade is freaky, so why the heck don't you go back to your sarcastic self!" And she whacked him again. Then healed him.

"You're right. My deepest apologies." And he smirked at the end of that sentence.

"….well, that's a start."

"Oh yes. The war between Kimlasca and Malkuth has started. We are currently using our other team to try and stop Kimlasca."

"Why?" And that was the cruel question that did it for Lina. She didn't say any more, so Jade took over.

"The Commandant of the Order of Lorelei is currently trying to start a war. He's using the destruction of Akzeriuth of cause a war, and then to drop all of the people into the sagging land, killing them."

"So that's the Order of Lorelei's plan…" Peony said.

"On another note, Peony. I would like for you to internationally announce my existence."

"Why?"

"It's because of security scare of the wars. I have both Kimlascan and Malkuthian citizenships, since I'm a noble. Actually, since my mother is a Kimlascan soldier, sent to hold the peace treaty of the Hod War and my father is a Malkuthian noble. I would've liked to live my life as if I never existed, but it looks like I'll have to reveal myself." She mentioned, chuckling.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard… though it's going to be annoying and as hard as the eleven years you lived being shunned." Jade said, smirking.

"I've got that covered." And she winked at him, smirking as well. And then the doors opened revealing the 'Baticul' team.

"How did you get here?" Anise asked.

"I ordered Noelle to go back to Baticul, seeing as they'll need it more then we currently do. And so I was right." And a light engulfed everyone in the room, Jade and Lina casting the same fonic arte, only to be able to protect their own eyes from the sudden light.

* * *

Then both Lina and Jade could see again, there were just piles of clothes.

"Oh crap." Lina said, immediately knowing what was going on.

"Yes, as you said 'oh crap'." Jade said, as he sighed and made a mental note to capture Dist, and make him sign his own death warrant.

"Please tell me I died and got sent to baby heaven…" Lina said, in a really pissed off tone. Jade chuckled.

"Of course not…. Now, seeing the people in this room…."

"Luke is 1, Tear is 2, Guy is 3, Anise is 2, Natalia is 3, Peony is 5, Ion is 2 and Asch is 2……. hang on."

"What's Asch doing here?" Jade asked, and got no response.

"Even weirder, why the heck is Luke 1?"

"Actually, since he is a replica, his real age is probably seven."

"Right." And heads started to form. And they, well majority of them started to cry.

"I think Dist got better, and ERASED their memories, temporarily, of course."

"Right, calm down, kiddies…" Lina said, picking Luke and Tear up, while motioning Jade to get Anise and Asch.

"What about Natalia, Guy and Peony?"

"urghhh…. You don't know anything about parenting, do you? They should be able to walk properly by now." And they did, Peony running off the chair and Natalia and Guy playing tag.

"Right…. Well, seeing as we have eight kids to look after, why not go to your place?" Jade asked.

"No. Too far away. Why not your manor, Colonel?" She said, flatly.

"…..Fine." And they left, managing to get strollers for all, except for Peony, who they considered was old enough to walk.

"But I DON'T wanna walk!"

"Peony. You're going to have to, alright? We're your parents." Lina said, out of exasperation. Jade visibly paled.

"…….Were you serious?"

"Well, duh! Do you think anyone's going to look after eight kids at random ages?"

"No."

* * *

Jade sighed as he watched his rightful manor get trashed by eight kids. It was basically half covered in bits of sandwiches, water, a whole lot of candy and green apples. He had suffered many harsh things, but never something as to undergo parenting. At least Lina had some knowledge, despite her disguised appearance.

"Luke! Anise! Come back with that knife!" Lina shouted as the two ran with a butterknife. Jade had the task of watching the 'elder' of the group, namely Peony, Natalia and Guy.

"Are you really my daddy?" Peony asked.

"Yes." And he frowned inwardly because he had to make sure that he would 'gain' their 'trust' again.

"Then why don't you go kiss mummy?" And add Peony to that list of want to kill.

"She's busy." And he just saved himself from ripping apart his master.

"Oh. Can we play ball?"

"Play!"

"Me wanna play too!" Natalia and Guy said in that specific order. And then Guy moved away and flinched.

"I guess his gynophobia is still with him, even as a three year old." And he got out a ball and started to throw it.

Now, let's head to the younger side…

"Luke! Tear! Come back! Don't steal the candy!" Lina shouted as Luke and Tear climbed the stepladder and took the jar of lollies.

"Asch! Anise! Don't play with your food!" She shouted as the two had a food fight. At least Ion was being tolerable. It was freaky, though he was silent and didn't do anything.

"Me want green apples." And now you know why his hair is green (no offense to Ion, Florian or Sync lovers, coz I'm with you on that one).

"YOU FOUR! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, IMMEDIATELY!" Lina shouted out of anger. The four stopped as stared at her, terrified. Ion just stared at her.

"Finally. Now, nap time." She muttered as she took the five onto a large queen sized bed and began to sing a fonic hymn that none had heard before.

"…. Tel cu ga ste fi-ra…." (yet again, use your imagination) And they fell asleep to the lullaby.

"…..Now, let's see what that Jade's up to." She muttered as she walked out of the room.

….Now to the elder side…

"Peony? Where did the ball go?" Jade asked as he looked at Peony's smile of stupidness.

"I dunno. Go ask Guy."

"……You know, you just want me to kiss mummy, right?" Jade said, as he smirked. Peony nodded.

"I will, if you get the ball…" He said, in a teasing tone.

"Yay!" And he left. Jade, being him, walked off to where Natalia was attempting to talk to Guy.

"And…." She stopped at the sight of Jade.

"Natalia, you do know you are harassing our favourite womaniser and woman hater here?" Guy looked at him in horror. And then there was a flash of light.

"Jade? What's going on?"

"Oh, finally. One has transformed back."

"……I was that horrible?" Guy asked, as he dusted himself of his old clothing, which had somehow been placed on him again.

"I found the ball!" Peony said, smirking as he rushed to Jade's side.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Guy."

"…………Really?" The girl next to him asked. He didn't really notice her presence and started to freak out.

"Are you going to kiss mummy now?"

"…What the hell is going on here?" Guy asked.

"….Let me explain." Jade said, as he sighed and Lina walked in.

"I'm taking these three…. Guy?"

"Yes, Lina?"

"Oh thank god…. You're back."

"…..Now, will someone explain?" Guy asked, exasperated and confused.

"Yes, 'Master' Gailardia." And Lina bowed, smirking.

"Geez…"

* * *

"So…. Dist did this?"

"….Isn't it obvious?" Lina said, as she took Natalia and Peony to their separate beds, in separate rooms, as the two men followed her.

"….No. I never knew he had a liking into children."

"Oh… that. I remember. I must've cursed him too much." Lina said, as she giggled at the memory.

_Flashback_

_Saphir was running along, more like walking, but he had trouble walking, for some apparent reason._

"_Jade! Nephry! Wait up!" And he wasn't kind enough to acknowledge the fact that Lina was walking next to Nephry, who was with Jade at the time._

"_Saphir. You don't have to follow us, if you have trouble walking." Jade said, turning his head around._

"_But… you're always with that… funny Lina girl, aren't you?"_

"_Let's just say I have a soft spot for little girls now." He was speaking with a lot of sarcasm, even the thick-headed Nephry noticed. That acknowledged the fact that Saphir was stupider than Nephry._

"_I'll kill that girl." He shouted. Jade turned around. And then Peony turned up._

"_Saphir, you will not kill her. She is a noble. Have you not learnt that yet?"_

"_N-noble?"_

"_Like me."_

"_I'll kill her now! Fireball!" _(…..he doesn't fight in the game, so I just took something from ToS and used it)

"……_." She walked a bit faster and found herself standing in a pool of water._

"_You will pay for that tereat, Safire" Lina, at this age still didn't know how to use complicated words. Well, complicated for her age._

"…_I will?" Saphir said in a teasing tone. He never knew that she was learning fonic artes from her parents._

"_Indignation!" And it was the only chant that went on for a few hours._

_He was lucky not to be fried, but to walk away with some brain damage._

"You really did that?"

"Well, speaking in a way, she did. But then, she didn't." Jade said.

"What do you mean?"

"She had a pendant, which told her what to do. But she did nothing, after she noted his threat, so the pendant acted on her voice, making her chant."

"So, what happened of this pendant?" Guy asked.

"It was taken away from me when I mastered the mace and the fonic artes at the age of twelve." The servant and the soldier stared at her.

"………I was required to, alright?" And that conversation ended, when she made the two either shut up, or leave the room. They didn't really want to leave, so they stayed quiet as she sang for the other two. And then there was another flash of light.

"….Anise?" Lina whispered to the girl with Tokunaga strapped on her back. She turned around and smiled.

"uhhh…hi?" She said.

"…..Guy, explain." Jade said.

"Why me?"

"Because you are my cousin and I am older than you. Now do it." Lina said in a playful, but strict sounding tone.

* * *

After Guy had explained the situation to Anise, they all started to clean up the place of sandwiches and green apples, since the maids weren't present due to the fact that the house was abandoned.

"Who the heck eats all of these green apples?" Anise exclaimed. Guy looked at Jade and Lina and Jade looked at Lina. She sighed.

"……Ion." She muttered.

"Fon Master Ion?" Guy asked. She nodded. Anise looked at her with big eyes.

"Well, that explains the green hair and green eyes." Jade said, chuckling.

"Jade, that was a lame, sad and horrible joke." Lina said as she finished her part of the cleaning job. The others were almost finished when they heard a few footsteps.

"Oh crap." Lina muttered as Peony walked in.

"Are you going to kiss mummy yet?" Peony asked as he stretched and yawned.

Lina stared, blushing deep red.

Guy paled and if he wasn't himself, would've fainted.

Anise giggled and cheered.

Jade… well he turned red as well, and was secretly wishing he could kill him.

"…..You gotta be kidding me. Jade, you made a deal with a KID?" Lina shouted, getting angry.

"I'm sorry. He wouldn't be quiet." And Lina nodded.

"Fine, fine." And she walked towards Jade. Her heartbeat sped up, quickly, as did Jade's. Guy shivered and walked out of the room, while Anise stayed to watch. Peony was smiling, no, grinning like mad.

"I'll teach you never to make deals with a kid, ever." She whispered to Jade's ear as she got closer.

Her lips got as close as Jade's face.

He could feel her breath on his face, and smell her… scent of happiness and kindness?

* * *

Me: Lina has received the **Seducer **title! There is no need to explain what she does.

Lina: Ouch! Wasn't that just a bit harsh?

Me: Of course not. Just watch out next time you look through my things, alright?

Lina: Of course.

Jade: Where are Tear and Luke?

Me: I think they were caught up at the mall or something.

Jade: Mall?

Me: I made them go shop for food for Australia day tomorrow.

Lina: Yay! Food!

Guy, Natalia: She doesn't own ToA. She still wants reviews for her bet.

Me: What are you two doing here? Didn't the director want you?

Guy: Shush!

Natalia: We don't want the same punishment as Luke and Tear.

Jade: Touche.

Me: Now THAT was harsh.

Me: Before I forget, Ion is two, well because they are unaware that Ion is a replica and is only two. Anyway, two divided by seven is like.... unborn, or a few days old or something like that. And about the apple thing... well, there had to be an explanation about his weird hair and eye colouring, though I like him, next to Jade in my brains listing of favourite ToA characters.


	13. Part 13: The One and Only Star

**Part 13 The One and Only Star**

As a recap of the events…. Well, not really events, but feelings.

Lina was….intoxicated like?

Jade was, well wasn't Jade. He just lost his cool.

Guy promptly left the room, almost vomiting at the sight of his relative going crazy.

Anise watched the action, grinning like mad.

Peony… well, he was just grinning like mad.

And the rest of them were sleeping, unknown of the situation.

Lina was standing so close to Jade, she saw how much shorter she was, compared to him. Nevertheless, instead of kissing him on the lips, no, on any part of the face, she just hugged him, well, affectionately, though not too much, since she was in the vicinity of children.

"Gotcha." And Anise groaned.

"Way to ruin the moment." She said, looking at the both of them, frowning.

"I wanted to see kiss!" Peony shouted, sad. Lina kneeled down to his level and kiss his forehead.

"Maybe another day, alright?" She said, smiling and ruffling his hair.

"Right!" He said punching an arm in the air. Lina got back up and there was another light.

"Ah, finally." Jade said, apparently regaining his cool and smirking. The Emperor was standing to his original size, wearing what he was once wearing.

"Where am I?"

"Ah, finally. Your Majesty is back to normal."

"Well, Jade. Apparently, Dist's machine made them younger by one-seventh and made them forget their memories, though it only seems to last, about a few hours, max." Lina concluded as the Emperor dusted himself.

"What happened? Where am I?"

"Gailardia? Please do me the—" Lina started, but she got cut off by the man himself.

"Got it, got it." He said, as the door was still opened when he exited.

* * *

"Guy, you do know you're standing next to Anise." He had to ruin that moment. The moment of pure joy. The pure joy of torture.

Cue the Guy moment.

"AAACKK!" He shouted as he walked backwards and hit an empty wall, slipping on a green apple and falling on a spiky ball.

"Ouch!" Lina said, as he saw his landing. Anise laughed and so did Peony. Jade just smirked.

"Oh… where was I?" Lina said, as she got out her mace and used… painless (cough, cough) artes on His Majesty.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry!" Peony shouted as he got hit with another photon.

"Fine. Just don't put me in that situation again, alright?" She chuckled and sang, healing all.

"She's one dangerous one you have there, Jade." Peony muttered as he walked out of the room.

"What did you say?" Lina asked, apparently hearing him.

"Oh nothing."

"…………"

"Well, if Peony's back, then the others should be back to normal by now." And the four of them walked out of the room to the other, finding themselves with two adults on the floor.

"Asch?!?" Six of them shouted.

"Huh? Where am I?"

"Gailardia—"

"Yes, Your Grace." And he explained everything to everyone else.

* * *

"Asch, what the heck are you doing here?" Luke asked, dusting himself, like the others.

"I was talking to His Majesty when I hid, because I saw you guys walk in, and I didn't notice Dist was around."

"You? Peony?"

"Yes."

"Well then, I'll contact my sister and get this place cleaned up." Lina said, waving to the group.

"Alright, let's all meet at the entrance of Grand Chokmah, excluding Asch." Jade said, smirking while everyone else nodded.

"That's a good plan." And they left.

Lina was walking to the castle, instead of her manor. She wore no disguise, since she saw a paper with the headlines of…

**Tilina Feldesca Alive?**

**Early this afternoon, His Majesty, Emperor Peony the Ninth, gave word to us that Tilina Feldesca, of House Feldesca is indeed alive.**

"**If I don't have enough evidence, she should be roaming around Grand Chokmah for a while. She had light brown hair and light green eyes, though I highly doubt you'll see it. Please, if you do see her, please do not pester her, as she does attack." His Majesty said, in a little conference.**

**Tilina Galan Feldesca, who is sister to the late Duke Karima Feldesca, or better known as Brigadier General Karima Feldesca, and the sister to the presently alive Lady Realai Feldesca, who is currently at home. She is now twenty-nine, and until now, was destined to marry His Majesty, Peony the Ninth, but the arranged marriage was cut off by her parents at her mistaken death. She now has the title of Duchess Feldesca, after replacing her parents, who were tragically wounded in the unknown attack.**

"**She does not like me. Well, she is my best friend, but does not have any affectionate feelings for me, anymore that is."**

**After eleven years of disappearance, it has shocked the world that she is alive.**

She smiled at the article and kept walking towards the castle, getting gasps from the general public.

"…It seems like I have earned myself a crowd" She said in a very Jade-like tone. Then there was a flash.

"Are you Tilina Feldesca?" One of the supposed reporters asked. Lina sighed.

"No. Though I saw her earlier. She had left the city." Lina said, in a monotone voice.

"Oh. Did she say where she was going?"

"No idea."

"Oh. I'm sorry." And the crowd left. Lina had a word (fight) to pick with Peony again.

She made it to the castle reasonably unharmed and untouched. Though she was left with a pain splitting knew at this time, Peony would be in his chambers playing with his rappigs, so she went into the chamber.

"Your Majesty?" She asked, as she saw Peony play with Nephry, the rappig of course.

"Ah, Lina."

"I would like to have a word with you."

"Ah… this will have to do."

"So…?"

"Did you have to state my appearance and details that weren't really necessary?"

"No, I just wanted to." And the door opened revealing Jade.

"…Fine, fine. If I have the press on me, I'll do something to you." Peony laughed, though it sounded a bit shaky.

"Right. Why don't you use Jade here as a protection?" Peony said, getting the light bulb. Naturally, Jade knew what they were talking about.

"Sure. Just don't work these old bones of mine too hard." And there's our favourite guy, using words that are full of sarcasm.

"…..I see what you are doing…" Lina muttered as she didn't really like Peony's plan, but said yes, because if she didn't …. Well she would be walking rappigs for a while.

"Fine, fine. I'll do it, just don't pester me." And the two left.

"…Now I must go see my sister." And she left, Jade not even following her, though she didn't care.

* * *

Luke, Tear, Anise, Ion, Guy, Natalia and Jade were standing outside Grand Chokmah's entrance, somewhat waiting for Lina.

"What's taking her so long?" Tear asked.

"Most likely, the press. She was bombarded before." Jade responded to Tear's question. And the moment it was answered….

"LEAVE ME ALONE DAMMIT!"

"That's her." Jade smirked at the picture placed before him. Lina was walking towards them, with the press around her.

"Whoa! You were right, Jade." Luke said, shocked at the sight placed before him.

"Oh, I give up! Turbulence!" Lina shouted/chanted.

"…I….t-think I…. know….w-why….his….Majesty….said…not….to" One of the reporters said, before passing out.

"….I might've overdone it there." Lina said, scratching the back of her head and smiling. Then she sang, basically healing them all.

"Where are we to go next?"

"Well, we need to stop the land from falling, so we need to locate the Sephiroth."

"Let's go the Belkend then. It's where all of the Dawn Age machinery in Yulia's time documents is found these days.

"….Belkend it is."

* * *

"Why do you expect us to make a core vibration measuring device without others noticing?" Guy smiled.

"Oh well, we might as well go to Sheridan and let Iemon do the job." And here comes the chaos.

"Iemon!? We're not letting him do the job, no way. It's 99 wins and 99 loses….." They rambled on.

"Who are they?" Luke asked Ion.

"They're the researchers here, Cathy and Hencken."

"We're going to do it!"

"Yes! I can't let Tamara and her cronies beat us!" Cathy shouted. Guy smiled and nodded.

"Yes, yes."

"Who's Iemon?" Luke asked.

"He is the leader of Sheridan's Class I. He was the one to make the Albiore." Everyone turned to the direction of Noelle.

"Sorry… he's my grandfather." She muttered, and everyone was shocked.

"You'll do it?" Lina asked, looking at Hencken.

"Of course." And Jade walked up to the desk he was sitting at, giving him a book.

"What's this?"

"The information." And they got set to work.

* * *

It was sunset when everything was finished. Well, actually closer to nightfall, but it was inbetween. The buildings around the group were tall, apartment like and lastly stuffy looking. Though it was still bright enough not needed for the use of street lights. They were walking, Luke, Anise and Tear at the front, Jade and Ion in the middle and the remaining two at the back. Guy had the newly made device in his hands.

"Why did he do that? Why?" Lina muttered, as she took the newspaper of her appearance in her hands. She looked at it, and then placed it back in her pocket. Then she felt someone hug her. She looked up and saw the face of her mother.

"M-mother?" She choked out as the group turned around.

"What is it, Tilina?"

"I thought you were in Baticul." Lina said, smiling slightly.

"Well, we were there, until your cousin sent us here, to one of her houses to prevent King Ingobert VI from noticing."

"Oh. Well then…."

"Gailardia?" Lina's mother asked, as she saw the boy's face. Guy jumped but smiled.

"Hello, Aunt Vanilla." (no, I didn't steal that from Sonic the Hedgehog. Just eating vanilla ice-cream)

"So it is you…" And everyone else started to walk away, leaving the two alone.

"Were you really engaged to Emperor Peony?" Ion asked, breaking her out of her stance. They, as in everyone, turned around and looked at Lina with questioning glances.

"Were you?"

"I'll answer that at the inn."

* * *

_Flashback_

_Lina, who was about twelve, sat on her bed, staring into space. The news of her brother's death had just got to her._

"_Lady Lina?" A maid had just knocked on her door._

"_What is it?" She asked, raising her voice a bit too much._

"_Your mother and father would like to see you." And she got up, walking to the door and opening it._

"…_.Alright." Her eyes were all puffy and red, from all of her crying that night. She walked down the flight of stairs and found her parents in the drawing room._

"_Yes, mother, father?" Her parents turned around to her._

"_His Majesty had requested something, or rather said something."_

"_Yes, father?"_

"_Do you remember Peony, back in Keterburg?"_

"_Of course."_

"_His Majesty has arranged an arranged marriage between you and his son."_

"_WHAT?!?" For a girl that age, she could shriek really loud._

"……that's all I remember."

"Why?" Everyone was sitting in Lina's room at the inn, listening attentively.

"My brother had died in Hod the day before. So basically, it was announced right after the war started."

Lina was lying down on her bed, not looking at anyone, not looking at anything but the ceiling as everyone looked at her. It was like they were all psychiatrists, looking at her every move.

"… What's with the 'affectionate feelings' line?" Anise asked, taking out an article and pointing at it.

"Why am I discussing my relationship with Peony to you guys?" Lina asked, not really liking the situation she was in either.

"Because you have to, of course." Anise said, winking at her. Lina sighed and frowned.

"Where's the force, the bragging and the whining?" She said, in a Jade like tone.

"….Stop it. You sound freakily like Jade." And for that, Jade frowned.

"I sound like that? I don't like being put on the same level as that." Jade said, as he fake laughed at Anise's comment.

"Alright, alright. I'll explain, since it's my past now."

"Yes, yes! Juicy information." And Guy left the room, clearly disgusted.

"What's with Guy?" Luke asked as he exited. Then Tear left, red faced. For some reason, everyone else remained in the room.

"When I was fifteen, I was deeply in love with the Emperor, and was destined to marry him after my coming-of-age ceremony."

"Then what stopped you?" Anise asked.

"The mistaken disappearance." Jade said, looking like he understood.

"Of course. I was forced to forget my relationship with him, and I heard from news that the marriage was annulled."

"So you were his second love?"

"Yes… even though I stopped liking him affectionately, I still like him as a friend."

"Is he implying that you like someone else?" Anise asked cheekily. Lina turned a nice shade of red.

"O-of course not!" She shouted, causing a glyph to appear under her bed, which she saw. She got up, moved away and took out her mace.

"What the HELL are you doing here, Dist the Ridiculous!?" Lina shouted as she started to chant. Dist appeared from the window, but ended up getting hit.

"Photon!" And adios Dist, for now, of course.

* * *

Me: Uh-huh. I definitely didn't let them kiss. Coz that'll screw my plans. Though... I plan to.... put that scene again in the next few chapters.

Tear: Yep.

Lina: Why did you have to put an arranged marriage in there?

Me: Coz this story needed some.... oomph?

Lina: Right.

Jade: Poor Lina.

Me: You don't really mean that, do you?

Jade: Of course not.

WHACK!

Me: You get the picture.

Luke, Guy, Natalia, Anise and Ion: She doesn't own ToA. Reviews are still needed for the bet.

Me: Guy, Natalia and Ion?

Jade: Oh Guy. How did your meeting with the director go?

Me: I'm pretty sure Natalia needed to use Seventh Fonons.

Natalia: Yup.

Ion: You're pretty straight-foward.

Me: Isn't she like this in the game?


	14. Part 14: The Closed Score Perils

**Part 14 Closed Score Perils**

So… they left Belkend, headed for Daath… for what reason?

"We're going to Daath to read the Closed Score and find the locations of the Sephiroth trees."

Oh, so that was the reason. Wait, what the heck is Ion doing listening to me?

"Sorry, I'll ignore you."

That's better. I should state where they are not, shouldn't I?

Luke and co were walking to Daath, when they got to the city by night time. Majority of the lights in the city were aglow and the cathedral was doing their last minute prayers for the day. The headquarters were eerily quiet and the guard standing there looked like he was asleep. The rest of the town looked and sounded gloomy, as there was basically no one there. All of the shops were closed and the only thing opened was the inn.

"We'll go into the Oracle Headquarters tomorrow and find out then. For now, we sleep and rest, all jumpy and joyful tomorrow."

"I really don't want to know who wants to marry him." Lina muttered as Jade smirked.

"You know, I think that was a contradictive statement." Natalia said, looking at Lina, who turned around and blushed deeply. And that's why we absolutely love Natalia.

Lina sighed. "You've gotta be kidding me. Why is it YOU that makes me think I'm doing something absolutely wrong?" She muttered this under her breath, only the people around her hearing the word 'YOU', which they promptly ignored.

"Let's just go sleep." And Lina groaned again, at the setup of the sleeping plans. Again, there was only four rooms, again Guy and Luke were together, again that Tear and Natalia were together, again that Anise and Ion were together and again that the leftovers, namely Lina and Jade were put together. Isn't this the feeling of déjà vu?

"Right, right. You got to be kidding me. This is officially the second worse day of my life."

"Oh, when what is the worst day of your life?" Jade said, cynically and smirked.

"……. Well….. probably when my brother was killed."

"We're sorry, Lina. But we can't do anything else about it." Tear said, looking at her in pity. I mean, she was to sleep with the sarcastic, maniacal man, in the same room. She was going to have a hell of a night. So everyone looked at her in pity, apart from the man himself.

"Uhh…. Don't worry. I've got it all dealt with. Don't feel sorry for me, because that's kinda the last thing I want…." She trailed off. She really didn't know what to say, except for doing one thing. She nicked the key from Jade's hands and ran for it, looking for the room she was in, which wasn't really that far.

"What an earth have I gotten myself into?" Lina asked herself, huffing and puffing. She didn't notice the presence of someone there. To be more specific, someone behind her.

"Definitely something that's going to end up messy." And Lina turned around to find herself in the face of the one that she basically ran away from.

"How the heck did you get here so quickly?" Lina asked, jumping up a little bit, backwards.

"You basically did a full circle of the inn, while all I did was walk to the door near the counter." And Lina groaned.

"You gotta be kidding me." And she repeated the same phrase again. With a slightly different reaction. She smacked herself on the forehead and frowned.

"I'm stupid."

"Yes, you are." And Lina groaned again.

"Shut up. You're supposed to say no I'm not."

"Yes, Lina _my dear_." Rather than emphasising 'Lina' he added the surplus and emphasised that instead. And he tragically died a mental, or rather physical death.

WHACK!

……..And you all get the darn picture.

* * *

Lina awoke the next morning, just before sunrise, like she would usually. Picking her disguise, she went to the nearest table and placed the paperwork the pigeon had sent for her, and it wasn't hers. It was Guy's, though she couldn't be bothered teaching him first thing in the morning. So she did all of the signing, in her name. Little did she know the person who was supposed to be asleep, had woken up and was looking behind her shoulder.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lina doing paperwork?" Lina placed her pen down and turned around.

"Was doing. I'm done now, so I'm going send the pigeon with the paperwork as soon as I get outside." And she ruffled the man's hair, as a little joke, and took the pigeon, who was sitting next to the table silently and the papers outside. Jade followed in suit.

Lina stood outside Daath, watching the sunrise without noticing she actually had the pigeon. That's how breathtaking it was, apparently. It was when the pigeon pecked at her fingers did she notice.

"I'm sorry. Take this to Emperor Peony." And the pigeon flew away, into the direction of Grand Chokmah. Jade stood at the entrance, looking at her, for some unknown reason. Lina, being as thick-headed as she was didn't notice him look at her as she watched the sun rise over the plain. It was then she didn't know what she was doing, and she sung.

"Lina? What are you doing here?" She turned around to the face to Jade, yet again. Lina had by then stopped singing and looked up at him.

"Enjoying the sunrise, for once in my life, that is the only thing that hasn't changed." She looked at him, seriously in the eye, before noticing the time.

"Damn! I lost track of time, let's go before someone notices!" Lina shouted, pulling on Jade's arm and charging to the inn. Jade just followed, running.

They made it to the inn, where everyone else was standing outside.

"Where were you two?" Anise asked, smirking. Lina blushed and Jade just smirked back at her.

"Well, I was doing Gailardia's work here, and sending it back, while this stalker here did his job." Lina said, pointing to the respective people.

"Well, we'll go to Headquarters, to read the Closed Score." Ion said, as everyone walked.

* * *

They made it to the room, where the Closed Score was. It was basically a room filled with one large crystal like stone, with many more small ones. There were many pillars supporting the room, painted red. The room was basically red. And Lina collapsed, on her knees.

"Are you alright?" Ion, Tear and Luke asked, looking at her. Jade watched as she glowed, and her reaction was wincing in pain. Anise just surveyed the room.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Just… read the Score." Lina said getting up, but her face was still in pain, then she dropped again, grabbing her mace and using it like a walking stick+. When she entered the room, she felt the sudden pain of…. Something being absorbed into her. Ion got up, since he was the only one who knelt down and began to read the Score.

"ND1989. In Malkuth, a girl will be born. She will be a descendant of one of Yulia's trusted sages. She will have the power to manipulate most fonons around her. She shall be born with a mark on her arm, a shining spot. Her existence will be used by Malkuth, to cause war with Ispania, gaining territory.

ND2000. In Kimlasca shall be born the scion of Lorelei's power. He will be of royal blood with hair of red. He shall be called 'the light of the sacred flame' and he will lead Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to new prosperity.

ND2002. The one who shall seize glory shall destroy the island of his birth, a land named Hod. War shall persist between Kimlasca and Malkuth for a full cycle of the seasons.

ND2007. The sage of Yulia's descendant will be killed in an attempt to annihilate her family. She will be remembered in a large funeral, in which her friends decide to spread her message of peace along.

ND2018. The young scion of Lorelei's power shall bring his people to the miner's city. There, the youth will turn power into calamity and be as a weapon of Kimlasca destroying himself and the city. Thereafter, the land of Rugnica will be enveloped in war, and Malkuth shall lose territory. Kimlasca-Lanvaldear shall thrive, and this shall be lead to unprecedented prosperity.

This is all of what's on the Sixth Fonstone…." And Ion collapsed, like Lina.

"ND1989? Isn't that when you were born, Lina?" Jade asked, Lina looked up and winced.

"I see… the cat is out of the bag…." She muttered before forcing herself up.

"The cat's out of the bag?" Anise asked.

"This Score only tells us of Akzeriuth and the war." Tear said, looking at Luke.

"'Light of the sacred flame' ….in Ancient Ispanian…"

"…..Luke." Lina breathed out. Luke looked at Natalia.

"So this Score is about me?" Guy turned around and faced him, keeping his distance from the girls.

"No, Asch."

"But Luke was the one who went to Akzeriuth!" Anise exclaimed. Jade nodded.

"But Asch ended up there later on…. And he lives."

"Asch is Luke because his name in Ancient Ispanian means…." Natalia trailed off, forgetting what it meant.

"Charred remnants of the sacred flame…..Replica…..they don't mention Luke's existence seven years ago. ND2000 was when Asch was born, most likely…." Lina breathed out, again.

"This Score is messed up." Anise piped. Everyone nodded.

"Lina, will you care to explain 'the cat's out the bag'?" Jade said, smirking in her direction, which was basically down.

"Yes…. but…. can we…. get out of here?" And Lina blacked out.

* * *

Lina awoke to find herself in a room, sitting on a seat. Well, she wasn't really in a room. It was the cockpit of the Albiore. Everyone surrounded her, watching her every step. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Thank Yulia. You're ok." Tear said, smiling. Lina weakly smiled. Then grabbed her own arm, wincing.

"Ouch!" She shouted, in which everyone moved back. The pain quickly dissipated.

"Lina, are you alright?" Ion asked.

"Yep." She attempted to smile, but Jade saw right through her.

"Are you sure?" He asked, sceptically.

"Yes, Jade. For goodness sake. I'm not a three year old in pain." Lina joked with laughing dryly.

"So…."

"'The cat out of the bag' stuff?" Anise asked, hopefully getting information out.

"Ah yes… As you said Anise, the Score is messed up. I'm very sure it is."

"How?" Luke asked. Lina stood up, walking.

"The Score stated that a girl from Malkuth caused the Ispania-Malkuth war. The birth date was the same. That girl…."

"Is?" Tear asked hopefully.

"Me. The Score said I died five years after the Hod War. But I never did. I'm still here." Lina said, smiling at Jade.

"You?" Everyone, apart from Jade shouted.

"How can we tell?" Guy asked.

"The Score said 'She shall be born with a mark on her arm, a shining spot'." And she lifted her left cleric garb's sleeve, revealing a mark with a vortex of colours on her arm, shining. Everyone gasped.

"So, it is you. So then, why is it that you collapsed around the Fonstone?" Ion asked.

"I presume it to be the mark, absorbing some seventh fonons into my body, which the mark releases them, so they never permanently stay in my body. This process drains a few other fonons out of my body. This is why I cannot be around these things." Lina said, sighing.

"The Score said you can manipulate most fonons…" Luke trailed off. Lina smiled and lifted up her hands, like Luke does with his hyperresonance. Then there was a light of blue.

"That's…." Jade trailed off, for some unknown reason since he wouldn't usually leave a sentence unfinished, so Lina finished it off for him.

"These are the Fourth Fonons."

"Why don't you use them in a form of an attack?" Ion asked. Jade looked at her curiously. She smiled and faced the ball of blue light to a small empty box. She left go of the ball of light and it dissipated before it got there, only leaving a few burns on it.

"It's just too weak. I need the Seventh Fonon to do it… but I'm not a Seventh Fonist. If someone was to inject some in me, however…."

"Don't! It'll mutate you." Jade shouted/explained. Lina turned around and laughed.

"Not in my case. It'll give me the ability to control them."

"But?" Jade knew there was a price to it.

"I would be in a coma for about a month." And everyone eased off the idea.

* * *

Now… where are we going? Because, I completely forgot.

"We're going to Tataroo Valley. There is a Sephiroth tree there."

Ion? Didn't I tell you not to respond?

"Oh yes, I forgot. Anise is talking to me right now."

They were still on the Albiore, and after complaints from Lina, Lina started to move around and do things to make herself not feel…. Useless. They were on their way to Tataroo Valley, to get core measurements, to well…. Lower the land and to stop the miasma.

* * *

Me: Finally!

Tear: We're sorry about her 'stunning' entrance. She is usually informative but...

Luke: She finally got to put this up after hanging on to it for two days.

Lina: The system wouldn't let her.

Me: Yeah.... I made this chapter more..... informative, and a slightly bit stupid with the Ion-narrator (me) thing, since it was a start, from my sis.

Jade: So, your sister wrote this chapter?

Me: Hell no! I'd promised her to write the next, next chapter, well parts of it, since it wasn't in my genre.

Anise: She doesn't own ToA. Reviews are wanted, not forced. The bet is over! She won! ...... by one.

Me: Yeah! I don't have to do the chores for a month!

Lina, Natalia: .....uhhhh?

Ion: Ignore her, she just had a few cans of coke and a packet of lollies.


	15. Part 15: The Letter and The Latter

**Part 15 The Letter and The Latter**

The sky was blue. The air was fresh. You could hear the water rush down the river. The flowers were 'asleep' and were just buds. The view was magnificent. Only one thing disturbed that. The Albiore.

"Are we there yet?" Lina turned around and smiled.

"Maybe." And she faced the scene around her. She looked at it in awe. Everyone kept walking, well only Lina lagging behind, unlike how she usually is in the middle.

"Lina? Hello? Auldrant to Lina?" And that's when Lina snapped out of her daze.

"Huh?" And that's when she noticed that she was in the back. Unlike herself, she sped up, walking past Jade and Guy, who were at the back and started to talk to Tear.

* * *

"So this is the Sephiroth tree?" Luke asked. Jade turned around.

"This is the Passage Ring."

Cue the scary, scary Guy moment.

"WOW! This was made in the Dawn Age to protect the Sephiroth trees…. Two thousand years…." And everyone tuned out of Guy's ramblings.

"Are you sure he's your cousin?" Lina turned around to face Luke. And then everyone turned around to face her.

"Why are you asking me? He's the one who's been stuck in Baticul."

"Good point." And once Lina… well, let me just type the situation, instead of describing it to you.

"Blessed Drops!" And a bubble of water dropped onto Guy's head, drenching him.

"What the heck was that for?" He shouted. Lina motioned Tear to walk forward and touch his back, which is what she did. He started to shake like mad.

"You wouldn't shut up, so I had to make you be quiet." Jade, who didn't really want to be dragging around a sick Guy (lol!) started to chant.

"Turb-" But was cut off.

"Heat Wave!" Apparently Lina had started to chant. Guy was a bit burnt, but better than sick.

"How come the Passage Ring isn't on?" Ion exclaimed (something he wouldn't do). Jade walked up to the controls.

"Van has changed the code and it's been turned off permanently." And Tear walked up to it, inspecting it. Now, well all know what happens, but for those who can't remember….

"It turned on!" Luke exclaimed, as it turned on. Guy shivered a little and Natalia looked at it. And it was then that Lina noticed that Tear was on her knees.

"You alright?" Lina said as Luke rushed to her side. Everyone was too busy looking at the Passage Ring to notice anything.

"Lina! Put the core measuring device into the core!" Jade shouted as he saw that she wasn't around them. And then Lina came around the corner.

"Sorry…" And she placed it in the core and took the recordings on the machine. Guy protested, but since he was shivering and partially wet, everyone denied him the task, since they were all scared (worried in Jade's case) that he would accidently drop the wrong part into the core.

* * *

They had first gone to Belkend to send in the measurements, but were… well given a note for them to go to Sheridan.

"What the heck is with them? Another trip?" Lina said, frowning and standing there.

"Well, we could stop at Port Sheridan and walk a little before taking a rest, since it'll be dark. That gives the chance for the Albiore to be fuelled up, before going to Sheridan." Tear said, in one of her game skit's full portrait with the fluent motion. Everyone, apart from Lina nodded. Apparently, she wasn't paying attention, as a pigeon flew to her.

"How does Emperor Peony know where you are, exactly?" Anise asked. Everyone turned around to face her.

"…. I honestly don't know. It's probably the mace." And she took the letter. The pigeon flew off, though she didn't dare opening it, until later.

And so Noelle flew them as far as Port Sheridan, when they parted ways.

"See you later, Noelle!" She smiled, though they couldn't see it. And they were off.

* * *

"It's night time already?" Lina turned around and nodded. The sun had just set, and the plains were dark, so they decided to rest for the night.

"Who's on cooking duty?" Anise cried out loud. Everyone shrugged.

"I think its Lina." Ion said as he sat down. Everyone shivered, well, almost. Jade and Guy didn't, since they were the only ones who've actually tasted her food before.

"I-I'll cook." Tear said, nervously. Lina shook her head.

"It's fine." And she sat down, whispering to Jade.

"What's with the nervousness?" Jade turned around.

"The royals have a unique way of cooking." And Lina laughed.

"Well, I'm not really a royal, though I am of nobility. But don't forget, I've been living a life of a peasant…." She flushed, though it was hard to see, and she started to cook. The others waited nervously, as Anise asked Jade….. about her cooking skills.

"Is she as bad as Natalia?"

"Actually, quite the opposite. I've heard she was a chef in Keterburg's main restaurant." And that was enough for Anise.

"Of course I don't know if that's true." And Anise groaned.

"It's ready!" The Lina chimed through the winds. Everyone reluctantly sat down by the fire and paled instantly at the sight of the food.

"What the?"

"Where did you get all of this food?" Luke asked, stuffing himself. Once he gulped and smiled, everyone else did too.

"I brought some non-perishables along…." Nobody was really paying attention to her, as she also stuffed herself with her own cooking, and for a royal, it wasn't really horrible.

"Wow! You're a good cook!" Anise exclaimed, eyes in a shape of food, like they do in cartoons.

"Thanks…." She flushed again, though it wasn't as easily to depict, since it was even darker. Once everyone had finished (at least the rest of the group ate in a mannerly way, apart from Jade, who was yet again, experimenting with the food.)

"Gotcha!" Lina shouted, taking the bottle away from Jade as if he was a little kid. He fake pouted of course.

"I don't want to heal you or smack you awake like last time." She said sternly. Her face, even made Jade slightly scared, so he dropped it.

"Alright, alright, _mother_." She didn't feel like smacking him, so she let him go and went to where she was sitting, taking the unopened letter from her pocket and opened it. She read the contents, making weird and slightly unnecessary faces, but she didn't say anything.

"Here, it's basically for you." Well…. Fine, she did say something. She handed the letter to Jade, who looked at it in disgust, as well.

_Hey, Lina!_

_Guess what? What? I'm getting married! Finally! Guess who!?_

_Nephry!_

_She apparently got left by her husband, who married another woman. So I asked her and she accepted. Thanks on the notes for the council, who accepted as soon as you sent the paperwork. I owe you many, like before. The marriage is in a few days. Most likely 21 Undineday this month. Actually, that's tomorrow or the on the day, by the time you get this. Sorry for the short notice (that was for Jade and his formality. I know he'll read this letter)._

_The invitations are in the letter, one for everyone. Well, I think. There's Luke, Natalia, Cute Anise, Jade, Tear, Fon Master Ion and you? And that talking cheagle. And Noelle._

_Oh. Jade, I need you here, ASAP. Nephry's freaking out. Lina will need to come too. Actually, bring your whole group here, it won't matter. Jade, don't glare and burn up this letter. I'll personally get Realai to kill you._

_Lina, I'll send Gailardia's paperwork later, since I'm too lazy doing it now._

_Lovey Dovey and All Lovey (? Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble?)_

_Emperor…. Whatever. Peony, your bestest friend._

"I think I'm going to either have a girly attack, or be sick." Lina said, looking away from it. Jade just glared at it and almost burnt it when…..

"HALT!" Came from Lina. Lina had suspected it to be from Peony's mind, forcing her, though it just… slipped out of her mouth.

"What?" Jade said calmly, turning around to face her.

"….We might as well leave now. I mean, a day or two wouldn't hurt." Jade sighed and shrugged.

"It shouldn't. I'll get the rest. We leave now." Lina said, walking off getting the others. Jade looked through the envelope which was left over and found Lina's invitation. He also looked at his. The decorations were slightly different on Lina's than on Jade's.

Lina's invitation card was sky blue, with blue frills, while Jade's was basically a red card with sparkles. The rest of them had white and pink, for the girls and light green for the boys.

"Alright, alright, Lina. Geez… what's up?" Anise asked, as everyone followed her.

"There has been a slight change of plans. We're going to Grand Chokmah." Lina said, smirking. Everyone gave her the 'what the heck is going on' look.

"We're going to Emperor Peony's wedding." Anise smiled and jumped like mad

"Wedding? YAY!" And she walked off, packing everyone else's things.

"Who is he marrying?" Guy asked. Natalia nodded, supporting the question. The older lady gave her the letter, and nodding, to tell her to read it.

"Oh, that's it."

* * *

It was late at night. The night sky was dark, but not dark enough to stop Lina.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Duchess?" Ahh… Ion and his cute sense of formality.

"I don't know. I suppose I have been training…. But McGovern told me that it should be able to be used twice in a row." Lina said, chuckling before everyone surrounded her, and she chanted.

"TELEPORT!" And she ended up disappearing, like the others.

* * *

Lina awoke to find herself standing upright in a place which vaguely looked like Port Sheridan. She walked around and found herself face to face with the Albiore. She ran up the stairs and opened the door, to find everyone else there.

"When did you get here?" She huffed. Everyone turned around.

"About half an hour ago. Now we need to go to Grand Chokmah." Jade said, smirking. Lina nodded and placed her hands out like Luke does with his hyperresonance. Suddenly there was a large ball of first to sixth fonons, which her body absorbed. Jade stared at her miraculously.

"I needed that." And they were off, Noelle flying the Albiore and the rest teleported.

"TELEPORT!" And she started to disappear again.

* * *

Lina found herself standing up again, when she awoke. This time, she was with the rest of the group. She took a look around her surroundings and made the assumption that she was at the edge of the Theor forest. It was just past sunrise, since it was dark where they once were, due to the time differentials and all of that stuff. Then she heard someone awake.

"Jade?" And he got up, like that, as if he was a dog responding to the their own name.

"Get the others to awaken." And Jade smirked, preparing something evil…

"Splash!" And everyone else woke up choking.

"What the heck was that?" Anise and Luke exclaimed, rubbing their throats. The rest of them gave a questioning look to Lina.

"Hey, hey, it wasn't me. It was our favourite Colonel here." Lina said, smirking in his direction. Everyone gave an angry glare to him.

"Yes. I admit it was me, now don't you want to get into a fancy dress Anise? Don't you want to wear a cute dress, Tear?" And well, that got the two girls' attention. Tear blushed and Anise cried in some sort of have anxiety and happiness. At least Jade was thankful that he could talk his way out his own situation.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we go now? I'm pretty sure you'd like to start throwing your fonic artes at Peony now." Lina said, shrugging and walking along. Jade sighed and handed everyone they invitations, which said in big letters on the front.

**MUST HAVE PARTNER OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER ^_^ - Peony.**

"Darn… I can't believe I missed that…" Jade muttered as he walked up to the front and passed her the card. Lina stared blankly at the card before sighing and walking up to the castle, in which she burst the doors opened, with aggressive power.

"Whoa! She's angry with something." Guy said, chuckling.

"Probably at the fact, if you read the front of your invitation." Guy flipped his invitation around and paled, to a pale white colour. Actually, everyone did when they saw it. Though Guy's colouring was the worst.

* * *

Me: The unusual and the stupid! I wrote this chapter, with my sis! And she'll be helping me with the next one. It has almost nothing to do with the story line, though I needed a filler. Sorry for those who don't like PeonyxNephry.... but I kinda do, and I see there is very little of it. So, I put this up! And it helps me in my master plan.

Tear: She's just excited, and in a sugar rush.

Luke: She doesn't own ToA. Reviews, please, not forced.

Ion: That's a lot. Jade, do you have that down?

Jade: Fon Master? Was I supposed to write it down? If I was-

Luke: Don't. It's already written down. You're going to make the same mistake.

Anise (Ion costume): Dang it! I wanted to humiliate him.

Me: Oh, don't you worry. I've already got that planned. He'll be humiliated in the next chapter.

Jade: And I like the sound of that.

Lina: I don't think she was being sarcastic.

Guy, Tear, Luke, Natalia, Anise, Ion, Noelle, Mieu: (laughing like M.A.D)

Mieu: Jade's incredible!

Luke: What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be in the item bag?

Mieu: Mieu......sorry Master.......


	16. Part 16: Partnership in Hell

**Part 16 Partnership in Hell**

Once Lina had burst the doors opened, no one walked in, since basically, majority of their faces were pale. It took her awhile, but she walked in, making sure that no one could see her red face, which was her blood, boiling.

"Are you alright, Duchess?" One of the maids asked, when she saw her face. Lina smiled, as her face changed back to its original colour.

"I'm fine, thank you." And she kept walking, until she got to a room, which Nephry was most likely in. She had no idea where everyone else was, but she knew they were most likely following Jade, who would most likely visit Peony. She knocked on the door.

"Excuse me." And she heard, as she expected, Nephry's reply.

"Come in." And she walked in, to find her messing around with her dress and makeup.

"So, what's with the call?" Lina chuckled at the sight of her reunited best friend fretting over many things she wouldn't. She was wearing a white wedding dress. It went down to her ankles, in which it made a trail of white fabric follow her. Her veil was on the table, which had pink roses on it, and the blusher was bunched up. The dress itself was strapless. She was wearing pure white high heels.

"And I get this awkward feeling that you have something for the girls?" Lina asked, smirking. Nephry smiled back and nodded.

"I'll go get them." And she walked out of the room, going to Peony's chamber. She opened the door and opened the other door, across the room to find everyone standing there, listening to Peony gloat and boast.

"Ah-hem." And everyone turned around.

"I need the girls." And Luke frowned. Guy sighed of relief.

"Was that a racist comment?" Jade said. The other two nodded.

"Well, if you want to wear a dress, and then be my guest, come with me, then." And the girls chuckled. Anise laughing. Noelle was inbetween; she placed her hand on her mouth stifling them. They all walked out, and back into the room Nephry was in, still fretting about with her makeup.

"I got them." And she turned around. The girls smiled.

"Nice to see you again. The dresses are in the next room. Pick one that you want." And Nephry smirked in Lina direction. As she (Lina) was about to follow the others, she was stopped.

"Except you." And Lina sighed.

"I knew there was a draw back." And Nephry stood up, walking to the bed in the room. On the bed, as Lina didn't notice was a light blue dress, which had sparkles on it. There was a bouquet next to it, but Lina knew it wasn't hers. The dress was a simple strapless with the ends going out (cone like). Lina approximated that it would go until her ankles, as well. On the ground, there was a pair of adult like high heels, light blue.

"Is this what I'm wearing?" Lina questioned. She nodded.

"That you are." And the door opened again. The four girls came out with dresses and shoes in hand. Though Anise was pouting.

"Why can't I wear high heels?" And Lina laughed.

"You're a growing girl. You can't wear them if you want to stay short forever." And Anise smiled and stayed quiet.

"Who's the flower girl?" And Nephry pointed to Anise's direction.

"Anise, of course. Unless she doesn't want to be-" But she was cut off by the girl herself.

"Of course!" Anise had a light pink dress in her hand; some what a replica of Lina's, except it hugged her body and didn't go out in a cone light direction. It had embedded swirls on them, and in her other hands, she held a pair of pink flats. Tear held a light green dress, which also hugged her body. It had fake green roses on the side and she held a pair of green strapped high heels.

"Now, we won't wear them now, since the fonic hairdressers and makeup artists aren't here yet." Nephry said, smiling. Lina smiled at everyone, in which everyone else smiled and nodded at Nephry.

Natalia…. She had the most interesting dress. It was much like her formal royal dress (princess dress) except it was yellow and stopped at her knees. It was just a plain dress, but it kind of complemented her body and hair beautifully. She held a pair of red flats, with a red bow on each flat, at the top of the part covering the toes.

"Princess. I've heard that Peony has invited and seen a man with red hair and looked like Luke. His name was Asch." Nephry said, smiling. Natalia had the girlish breakdown.

"Asch is here?" And everyone sighed and tuned out of her ramblings.

Noelle held a cherry red dress, which was velvety and shiny. It had frills on the end of the hem, which had almost blood red roses. The held a pair of black flats. They had pompoms at the top.

"Let's go see the boys." And the four of them left, walking back to Peony's chamber. They stopped at the first room and told a maid to tell them that they were waiting. Not soon after, Luke, Guy, Jade, Mieu, Ion and Peony walked out.

"Now…. Apparently there was something to do with partners?" Lina said, drawling. Though she was extremely tempted to groan and growl it out loud. The rest of them, apart from Peony, sighed.

"Ahhh…. Yes." And he took out a piece of paper.

* * *

And this is what the piece of paper said.

_Roles._

_Lina – Maid of Honour_

_Jade – Best Man_

_Luke – VIP Guest_

_Tear – VIP Guest_

_Gailardia – VIP Guest_

_Anise – Flower Girl_

_Natalia – Representative of Kimlasca_

_Ion – VIP Guest_

_Noelle – VIP Guest_

"Whoops… that wasn't the paper." He sighed and took out another piece of paper, placing it on the table. He got a pen and wrote their names, apart from Mieu, who they already decided was to stay with Luke.

"So…. Automatically, Lina and Jade are matched up, due to age group." Peony smirked at that and wrote that down. Lina sighed and Jade just stood there, staring at the paper as if it was the Nebilim replica, wanting to burn it up.

"That leaves Luke, Tear, Anise, Guy, Natalia, Ion and Noelle." And he looked at them. They shrugged.

"What about this?" Lina said, walking up to them and moving them in the way she wanted them to be.

"HUH?" Was the ring around the room.

"Perfect. Though…. What's happening with her?" Peony asked pointing to the girl left over.

"I know." And she scribbled the name next to hers. She blushed and nodded. Everyone else, apart from two people blushed (one panicked at being close to a girl), but didn't say anything.

….And this was on the paper.

_Partners_

_Lina and Jade_

_Luke and Tear_

_Anise and Ion_

_Guy and Noelle_

_Natalia and Asch_

"….and that's it. The wedding is in a few more hours. So relax and get prepared." Peony said, smiling. Everyone moved a step back and scrammed, apart from Jade, who sighed and gently walked away.

Lina and Noelle ended up running in the same direction, close to the Audience Hall.

"Noelle?" The said turned around. Lina smiled and took something out of her bag. It was actually a box.

"Give this to Guy, one at a time. And wear camouflage ear plugs." And Lina walked off, towards the room that Nephry was in. Noelle looked blankly at her and opened the book, smiling.

It was a box full of fon machines.

* * *

Once the fonic hairdressers and the fonic makeup artists were done, this was what they had looked like, with their dresses on.

Lina's hair had been curled into a form of perm. She was wearing cherry red lipstick (and lipgloss) and her face had a nicer complexion and lighter tone. All she basically had was a dash of mascara and she was done.

Anise's hair was left, as normal. Actually, she didn't have much done on her either. All she was wearing was pink lipstick and gloss.

Tear…. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, tied with a white ribbon, in a shape of a bow. They placed clips (butterfly, of her choice because it was obviously cute) to pull the hair out of her eyes, for the mean time. She was wearing rose pink blush and a slightly some black eye shadow. They did this manually, since she refused the makeup artists do it using fonic artes, since they also used the seventh fonon, at some points. She wore a pale pink lipstick and yet again, gloss.

Natalia had her artist do it the same way, manually, since she didn't want to be drifted off to another place. Her hair was let loose and curled even more. She just wore a light layer of red lipstick and gloss. And a light layer of red blush.

Noelle had the most done on her. They extended her hair to be longer and left it straight, tying a big red bow on the back, by taking a little bit of hair and tying that. Her complexion was a lot nice and a slightly tanned tone. She had a slightly darker layer of red blush and full on red lipstick and gloss. She also wore mascara and a little bit of eye shadow.

"Are we done?" Lina looked at the wall and looked at the clock. It was almost twelve.

"Yep. And we can do outside now."

* * *

Outside, which was basically a hidden plain outside of Grand Chokmah, covered by walls, was already decorated. The tables and chairs were white and there was an arch, which had a bell on the top and roses on the whole entire thing. There were two chairs to a table, basically, though there were only seven tables. Everyone, except for Lina and Nephry went outside until….

……

THE EPIC MUSIC!

* * *

The ceremony was over (since I don't really enjoy writing about weddings….. and the fancy things came from my sis) and… well, it was over.

"What the heck?" Lina asked, when the music came on. She had the feeling something was iffy here, and she was right. She sat at the table drinking apple juice, infused with lemonade, so it looked like champagne, so she would be the only sane one, though the kiddies (everyone but Jade, Lina, Noelle, and the obvious adults over the age of 20) drank apple gels (really, do you apply them, or eat them?) stuffed in a cup, infused with water. The rest had alcohol. And a few went drunk as.

"Oh god, I'm getting the kiddies out of here." Lina said, as she walked over to the other tables, dragging them by hand into the castle, where she shut the door, and told the maids to watch the drunk.

"What the heck?" Luke exclaimed. Lina sighed and looked at everyone she pulled in the eye.

"I took you out of there, because when Peony gets intoxicated…. He goes nuts. And Jade won't stop him. So ... to save Tear, Natalia and I from healing you…." She trailed off and sighed.

"Just go rest next to the room Nephry was in. There should be many beds there." And they nodded, going in the direction the girls were going in. Lina herself, went back to the door, taking a deep breath and spoke with the maid, after opening the door.

"How are they doing?" The maid turned around.

"Emperor Peony is doing his usual, sing on the stage, like as they say an idiot. Colonel Curtiss is sitting there, drinking, and occasionally laughing. And the new Empress is…. Actually, I don't know. Count Gailardia is talking to his partner about a fon machine he had in his hands and the lady is listening attentively, nodding her head." Lina smiled.

"Thank you. You're dismissed." And the maid sighed, walking out.

"Noelle better be wearing her ear plugs to encase her sanity…" She muttered as she walked down the long tunnel, back to the wedding area. It was almost sunset and she walked to Noelle and Guy. Guy actually didn't freak out, but was mostly likely distracted with the box of fon machines. Lina walked up to Noelle and took out her ear plugs, which camouflaged perfectly with her skin.

"You want to get out of here?" Noelle looked at Lina as if she was Yulia. She nodded.

"Then go. I'll deal with the rest of them." And she promptly left. Guy was still talking, well, until Lina took the box and the machine part out of his hands. It seemed to be that he didn't drink either.

"Go." And he did, since he was slightly frightened at the face she made.

Now, Lina was left with just four people. Peony, Nephry, Jade and herself. The generals and up had left earlier. She looked at the sight placed before her. Peony was, well dancing as if the music was heavy metal, Nephry laughed, and looked like she wasn't drunk at all. And Jade?

All of the sudden, Jade appeared right in her face.

"What the hel-"

And she was stopped.

He kissed her.

* * *

Me: Yahoo!!! I finally get to my favourite-ish chapter! You know why?-

Kratos, Colette, Tear, Zelos, Mithos: JUDGMENT!

Luke: What was that for?

Me: KRATOS, ZELOS, COLETTE, MITHOS? WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Kratos: We got a message from the direc-

Me: I'm going to have a darn word to him as the CEO and the MANUFACTURER of this fic.

Tear: She doesn't own ToA. She would really love a review or two. Though she will not like the fact that if someone forced you to.

Natalia, Tear: HEAL!

Zelos: Oohhhh~ There are some nice cute ladies here~

Sheena: SMACK!

Me: Ok, ok. Time out. Symphonia, GET THE HECK OUT OF THE ABYSS AREA.

Lloyd: But you abandoned us.

Me: Yes, Because I simply lost interest in ToS. But I will restart it.

Lloyd: But-

Me: INDIGNATION!

(Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Raine, Zelos, Sheena, Kratos and Mithos get blown off to the somewhat livable abyss)

Me (huffing): Soo.... sayonara. Ciao. Arigato gosaimasu.


	17. Part 17: Sheridan Randomness

**Part 17 Sheridan Randomness**

Lina just stood there, while Jade was kissing her. Passionate? Tick. Lust? Tick. Annoying? Tick. Lina pushed him off and smacked him before running off. In the background, you could hear Nephry laughing and the words….

"Bro! You got re-jec-ted!" (thanks to a replay of ToS, Genis rightfully owns a bit of that line).

Lina kept running, hearing whispers from the maids and from some of her comrades until she was out of Grand Chokmah. Then she, well obviously ran home. The others had opened the door a crack and saw her running, though they didn't dare leave, so they stayed in the room, with the security of the maids in that room.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright, Lina?" A slightly timid Tear asked.

It was the next day. Lina had indeed came back, after she was told that the two drunk were in treatment by fonic healers (Seventh Fonists), though she came back the next day, when the message had indeed gotten to her. Though she didn't look at Jade straight in the eye, nor did she greet him, or speak to him. She just curtly nodded, and acted normal around everyone else. Now, they were on the Albiore, flying to Sheridan.

"I'm fine, Tear. Though, thanks for your concern." She tried to pull off a smile, though it completely failed.

Lesson of the day.

Never, ever attempt to look fine, if you're not.

"You don't seem like it." And that's completely why I call Natalia thick-headed, and one who states the complete obvious.

"I'm fine, alright? Now, let's head on to Sheridan." And they stopped pestering her.

On Jade's side, however….. Since the boys and the girls were split, due to Guy's…. special condition.

"Do you know what's wrong with Lina, Jade?" Luke asked, out of curiosity. Jade looked at him, unnerved.

"I have no idea. I was drunk, remember?" And the rest of them looked at him as if he wasn't there.

"We don't know. Lina took us out saying something about Emperor Peony going nuts when he was drunk and said you would do nothing about it….. but she didn't mention….." Luke trailed off, not knowing what to say. He turned around to look at Guy.

"I don't know either. Noelle brought a box of fon machines, and I've been looking at those." Guy said shrugging.

"So it seems to be the only person who knows is the Duchess….." Ion said, using the thinking stance.

"No. I'm pretty sure Nephry knows too…. Since she said that she wasn't drunk, that she was drinking sparkling apple juice." Jade said, smirking. The rest of them look at him. And then Anise walked in.

"We seem to have arrived." Jade said, at the sight of Anise. She didn't look energetic. She looked glum.

"We're there." And they nodded, and she disappeared, along with Ion, who she dragged with her.

* * *

They were standing in the middle of a hell. A mental hell. A hell which made Lina lose it. 'It' being her sanity.

"GUY! SHUT THE HELL UP!" She said, all red faced, when Guy went all crazy. Guy looked at her, face pale white, while the others started to giggle (Jade smirked, Noelle flinched).

"Alright, alright…." Guy muttered, rubbing the back of his head. Lina looked at him, ashamed of herself.

"….Sorry…." She mumbled before walking to the meeting hall. The rest of them followed in suit.

Standing out there were two old ladies and-

"Ginji!" The woman cried out loud running in his direction.

"Noelle…. What are you doing here? I though House Feldes-" Then he saw more people walk towards him.

"You are correct. House Feldesca did indeed call for a commission. And I thank-" Lina started, FAKE smiling, though she was stopped by Noelle.

"Duchess! You don't have to be that uptight, do you?" Noelle giggled. Lina sighed and smiled.

"No I don't."

"What's going on, Ginji? Why are you out here?" Ginji frowned.

"They're at it again."

"AGAIN? Ohh…..geez…." Noelle groaned. Everyone else, apart from Ginji and the other two looked at them curiously.

"I'm serious. Go look for yourselves" Bad move. And they did…..

To find the two old men (Hencken and Iemon) fighting.

And this is how it went.

Luke looked at the two, wide eyed.

Tear looked at the two, bewildered.

Anise looked at the two, same what interested, but confused.

Guy looked at the two, half smirking, half surprised.

Natalia looked at the two, partially disgusted, mainly confused.

Jade looked at the two, one eyebrow up, frowning, though in his head, he was amused.

Ion looked at the two, with a HECK load of confusion.

Mieu looked at the two, scared for the two old men's wellbeing. (That's generous, Mieu……)

….And Lina's reaction was by far the funniest.

Since she had the sad face, the whole way ... her faced morphed into half sadness, quarter bewildered, quarter 'eyebrow up'….. So her face was a frown, with an eyebrow up, shrugging, using her hand gesture. And she was also twitching.

"Master ... They're fighting…" Mieu whined. Luke just laughed, very hesitantly. And then they stopped fighting.

"Oi-ya? Who are these young'uns?" Iemon asked.

* * *

"If we stop the liquefaction in the Qliphoth, we can then lower the lands down there…. Though considering the miasma….." Jade trailed off. But then Lina had one of her light bulb moments.

"If we're lowering the land into the Qliphoth and stopping the liquefaction, aren't we essentially putting a lid on the miasma, forcing it back into the core, where it originated?" Ah… we gotta love Lina and her ability to think of wonderful ideas.

"Lina! You're a genius!" Guy exclaimed. Jade smirked at her.

"Of course. Good point." And Lina frowned again, facing another direction.

"My feelings are less important, so I'm making a contribution." And she clamped her mouth shut.

"….Feelings?" Luke asked. She opened her eyes wide opened and got up, and smacked herself on the forehead, muttering something along the lines of 'stupid observant people'.

"Hey, hey. Don't blame me for being observant." Luke said, in a joking manner. The rest, apart from Jade, was actually worried for both Lina and Luke's mental health.

"…..Me? No need to worry. I'm absolutely fine." And they took it, leaving the meeting hall.

* * *

"So, what do we do?" Luke asked. Lina turned to Natalia for a little bit, but looked at Luke in the eyes.

"Well…. I was thinking….." Everyone looked at her, considerably. She faltered a second with a smile.

"I don't really know if Natalia will agree with me here but….. I'd like to go to Baticul." Lina said, smiling towards her.

"Why?" Almost everyone asked. Apparently, Ion had got it.

"I think she means that she would like to talk to Baticul about peace treaty talks." Everyone stared at him.

"And why?" Luke asked, getting slightly annoyed and emphasising the point. By now, almost everyone of the rest was still confused. Now, Jade had understood.

"I see… you don't really want to lower the lands into the Qliphoth without permission." And everyone looked at Lina. She had her face down for a second before….

"Well, duh! We can do this while we wait for the Tartarus to be modified." (They discuss this before the scene before this one) She said, exasperated.

"That will be fine with me." Almost everyone said (well something like that, I'm just using Ion as an example)

"…I need more time…" Natalia said, looking dull, sullen and dodgy.

"... I understand." Lina said, smiling. The others had looked at her. Natalia had just run off, just a few seconds before.

"How do YOU understand?" Anise asked, with some sort of pissed offness in her voice.

"Because... she feels the rejection of her father. She is scared that he will reject her again. How I know? Because I too have felt this before. When I first came back home. I was scared that my parents would think of me as an imposter." Lina said, looking of in the general direction of where Natalia ran off.

"I see…" Was Anise's reply.

* * *

It was night time. Majority of the lights were out. Lina was sitting on the dock, staring out to sea, looking at the moons reflection and sighing. It was a full moon, and the sky was clear. You could see the stars and the fon belt really clearly, only one who was visually impaired would miss it.

"What is making you so sad?" Lina turned around and frowned.

"What else?"

"Your brother?" And Lina almost wanted to jump off the pier.

"He's… gone. He isn't on my mind right now." Jade smirked and sat down. Lina looked at the moon, smiling at it.

"May I ask what is making you so sad?" Jade asked, again. Lina sighed and laughed slightly.

"It isn't really being sad…." She lied down on the pier, staring at the stars. She smiled towards them.

"Then what would you call it?"

"Call what?" Lina asked, closing her eyes.

"Your unusual behaviour." Jade said, as if it was plainly obvious.

"Telling you the truth is like telling an Oracle Knight to commit suicide." Lina said, with a dry laugh at the end.

"I'm hurt." And he did the mock hurt action, hand to heart and stuff.

"……I have no idea what it is. I'd think you'd call it….a sort of sullen anger." Lina said, placing her own hand to her head and sighing.

"Anger? Directed at who exactly, Your Lady?" Lina opened her eyes and smiled.

"Must I tell? Because I'm talking to Jade Curtiss as if I'm talking to my doctor." She giggled at her own comment.

"Well, you don't have to, but it would be very convenient if you did." Jade said looking at Lina, specifically, her face.

"Fine, fine. You always get to talk your way in and out of things." She smiled at him, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"You." And he gave her a questioning glance.

"Was it something I did at the party? When I was drunk?"

"Possibly. Though it actually is most likely, because you aren't remembering it." She got up, crossing her legs, staring at the black abyss of water down below her.

"I see…. Might I asked, what I did?" And Lina lost all colouring on her face. Well, not really all of it. Maybe just a hint- no. A hell load of red. The only reason Jade could see it was the moon reflected her face almost beautifully. Well, apart from just then.

"uhh….ummmm…..errr…."

"I get this feeling I don't want to know." Jade said, smirking. And that was the wakeup call that got Lina out of her daze.

"Your curiosity can send you far, but not far enough, apparently." She smiled toothily in his direction.

"I think I'd like to know right now." Lina sighed and lifted her sleeve.

"Would you like a narration, or the visual?" Jade smirked.

"Visual, please." And he just asked for trouble.

* * *

By the time Lina had used First and Second Fonons to show a projection of her memory, Jade sat there, red faced, completely. Lina sat there, smiling.

"I'm…. sorry." Jade mumbled, though Lina could hear it.

"Don't worry about it." And she ruffled his hair before standing up. Though Jade jumped up and pounced at her, immediately.

…... So basically, he closed the gap, smirking on her lips. All Lina could do was be victim and stand there, since she didn't lose her footing. It was completely sweet and something that our sarcastic ol' Jade would never do in public, or in daylight.

* * *

"I've decided to go."And that was Natalia's good and badish decision.

"Are you quite sure? Because…..I know how you'll feel." Lina said, smiling.

"I'm positive. I want to convince fathe- King Ingobert, as prin- no, as a citizen of Kimlasca." She said, stopping at some parts.

"Well, that's fine with me." And they walked to the meeting room.

* * *

"We'll be in Baticul and Grand Chokmah to get the peace treaty talks going. I hope you'll be finished modifying the Tartarus by then." Lina said, bowing. The old side looked at her.

"What a polite young one." And Lina frowned.

"I must say, no offense, but I'm not the youngest, nor the second youngest." And the elderly group looked at her again.

"I'm twenty nine." And they gasped, quite loudly.

'We'll be on our way then. Good luck." And Lina stood up, waving to the group, going outside, meeting with the others.

"We've got the all clear."

"Now we go to Baticul." Ion said.

"To convince my once good friend. To get him out of evil" And Natalia turned around.

"Oh, I guess you didn't know…. I'm a good friend of your fathers. And I used to be yours too…." Natalia looked her her, gobsmacked.

"I'm pretty sure you don't remember. You were three at the time." And Natalia sighed.

* * *

Me: ...........

Luke: Are you alright?

Me: Huh? Yeah...

Jade: Looking at a new anime? What happened to ours?

Me: .....I'm watching that now. I'm also reading **MANGA**.

Tear: Since the authoress is currently preoccupied in a precious moment, she doesn't own ToA and would **LIKE **reviews.

Me: Tear, Luke, Jade, you're dismissed to studio 14. The rest of the crew is there, working on the next chapter.

Luke: Okey-dokey.

Me: What did he eat for breakfast? Sugary cupcakes with coke?

Jade: You're close enough. He had-

Tear: Colonel, let's just go.


	18. Part 18: The End of Lorelei Redecan

**Part 18 The End of Lorelei Redecan**

Everyone in the party was sitting on the Albiore watching the snow fall from above them…. Snow? What the heck? Why are they in snow territory?

"We seem to be getting supplies in Keterburg."

ION! I told you.

"Sorry. I'm watching the others force Lina to confess something."

Confessing?

"What? Is there something I must confess?" Lina asked, with everyone looking around her.

"Where were you last night?" Anise asked. Lina smiled.

"Looking at the stars from the pier."

"And why?"

"And why were you out, Colonel?" Anise asked.

"How did you know, Anise?" Jade asked smirking.

"Because, Luke said he heard your door open that night." BUSTED! In your face, Jade!

"…………" He remained silent, not daring to say a word.

"While I was at the pier, he was with me, watching me like a stalker."

"Oh." And Jade sighed, lifting his hands up in fake mercy as the others sniggered.

_**Jade has received the **__**Stalker**__** title! If you're planning something, watch for shady glasses behind your back.**_

* * *

Keterburg was cold as ever, as most of the group wore cloaks to keep themselves warm. The only others who didn't were Lina, Jade and Guy. Apparently, they had more resistance to the cold then everyone else (cough, cough, Jade?).

"So what are we doing in Keterburg?" Anise asked, seriously.

"Since we have a lot of kids in the group, I thought we could something like a Secret Santa, even though Christmas (or whatever they call it in the game, festive times) was a few days ago…"

"What's the date?" Ion asked. Tear looked through her bag, taking out a calendar.

"41st Lorelei Redecan….." (I made that up, since they don't specifically say how many days in a month, though they do say how many in a year, which is… 765?) Anise looked at her, surprised.

"Are you serious?" Apparently Anise had forgotten a really good day to beg Luke for money. The last day of ND 2018. (In my story, the timeline is longer, so specifically and technically saying, I've screwed up the chronological order of events, don't worry, I've got it all sorted out in my amnesic brain of mine).

"Yes." Lina replied, smiling in her direction.

"I've always been good with the dates and stuff" She added, her smile changing into a smirk. The rest grinned (or in Jade's case, smirked) at the fact of the celebrations. They all of the sudden agreed to celebrate, until Guy said something worth noting of.

"Hang on, isn't Van going to act while we're holidaying?" Guy asked. Tear had the lightbulb moment. Actually, it was more like remembering something, but close enough.

"He actually enjoys these holidays and will probably force the Six-God Generals to celebrate along with him" Tear said giggling in a sort of fit. The others looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Are you serious, Tear?" Luke asked, in the middle of his laughing fit. She nodded and smiled along with the laughing group, which was basically everyone but Jade.

* * *

Somewhere unknown, though on Auldrant…

The strangest scene on Auldrant was occurring.

"Come on! We have to get those decorations for the end of the year up!" Van shouted as Legretta and Sync placed the food on the table.

"But Commandant… wouldn't that replica and his group be ahead of us if we stop?" Van laughed.

"The end of the year is for all people to enjoy. Fighting is practically no use." And the rest of the group looked at him as if he was either stupid or …

"Do you that replica group drugged or poisoned the Commandant by any chance?" Sync asked, looking at the others.

"You know? That could be possible" Legretta said, thinking very carefully, appearance wise.

"Actually, I don't think so. According to a few Oracle Soldiers in his old division, he used to be like this all of the time." Arietta said looking at Van who was taking the turkey put of the oven.

"Well, we might as well listen to him, since I really don't want to see his angry side." Largo said, quietly might I add, while putting a plate on each person's table. The others listened to his instructions, since he was basically the next wisest next to the crazy guy himself.

"Hey! I'm not crazy!" The idiot himself exclaimed. Whoops, right idiot straight ahead on a stupid chair, holding something that seems to be a dangerous projectile, fifty meters south of their current direction.

"Dist? What the heck are you doing? You should be helping the others out with the decoration" Dist dropped the stick he was holding. And he looked at the others pretty angrily.

"I have to destroy the Jade group fast. So I don't have time for-"A he was cut off by none other than Van himself.

SLICE!

….And by now, we know what happened to our favourite idiot in the Six-God Generals.

* * *

Everyone had just come back from their 'selections' for their 'chosen' people. Well, excluding Jade, who didn't choose himself since he kept picking out his own name. So, Lina picked out a name for him, suspecting that he used some sort of fonic arte to jinx the box or something.

"You do know that it's impossible to do that." And Lina faced him, frowning.

"So you knowing my location all of the time is basically stalking?" And Jade got caught.

"Of course it's stalking." He said face not faltering in any sort of way. Lina sighed.

"Whatever." And the subject was promptly dropped.

And everyone slept at the inn for the night, their presents in their custody for the night.

* * *

It was morning for both sides the good and the absolute evil.

"Lina! It's morning!" A certain cheagle staying in her room said.

"I know, I know." She said, in a groggy tone, and kind of annoyed. Clearly, she wasn't the morning person anymore.

"It appears to be that everyone is awake." Lina said, after rubbing her eyes, hearing the sound of footsteps and voices. She picked up the present, which was neatly wrapped and walked outside.

"Are we going to start?" She asked, as Luke passed by.

"Yeah, in a few minutes. Go downstairs and there should be a tree. Place your gift there. And write the person's name on it, there should be a permanent marker there." Luke said, kind of quickly, as he walked towards his room, probably to do something.

"Sure, sure." As she took the elevator and went down to find a tree with presents on the ground.

"So use the permanent marker…" And she picked up the black permanent marker (Sharpie… let's just say.) and wrote the name she picked out on it. And then she placed it under the tree.

…..And magically, everyone else was around her.

"Are we starting yet? I want to know what I got." Anise said, fidgeting, jumpy and all of the other words that could describe the money-wanting Anise.

"Alright, alright, Anise. We'll start now." And she sat down, promptly followed by the rest of the group, who sat down and surprisingly sat in the shape of a circle.

"Who goes first?" Anise asked, anxiously.

"Since you're the complete jumpy one here this morning, you can go Anise." Jade said in a fake chirpy voice. Everyone apart from Jade and Anise groaned.

"YAY! ND 2019 better be a lucky year!" And everyone else groaned.

"Jade, never, _ever_ use that annoying 'chirpy' voice _again_" Lina said, emphasising the words in italics. Jade laughed, somewhat throatily.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, saluting.

"I get this vibe not to trust your word on that." And he didn't say much. He just made a small noise and smirked.

"Here, this one has your name on it, Anise." Luke said, taking the medium sized box, with was neatly wrapped and passing it to her. Anise, being her, didn't carefully tear it off, like some would do. She ripped it as if she was a savage.

All that was left was a closed box, which she ripped apart to. And then she smiled. It was dress, a princess's dress, for formals and stuff. It was made with the finest silk.

"Natalia?" She asked instantly. Natalia looked up.

"Huh? Oh, that's a nice dress, Anise. Who gave it to you?" And that answered her question.

"Who picked my name out?" Anise asked, absent-mindedly. Everyone, apart from one, looked around the room.

"Well, who else? Of course it was me." They faced Lina. She was smirking.

"That was my dress which I wore once, when I was your age."

And then there was one with was kind of small, but horrifically wrapped. Though the name on it wasn't clear either. Thank goodness for tags.

"Here, this one says 'Ion' on the tag." Noelle said, taking the package that was closest to her. He took it graciously and opened it carefully.

"I think I already know who that one belongs to." Lina said, smirking. The others looked at her curiously.

Ion opened it and found a book in it. It was a fictional story.

"Thank you, Anise." He said, smiling. Anise looked at him, bewildered well, she tried to at least.

"As I thought. I remember seeing Anise watching Ion read one of the stories that I would read. So seeing the wrapping and the size, I thought Anise would've gotten him a book." Lina said, explaining how she knew, and her somewhat correct guess. And she noticed a present next to her. It was the size of a tissue box, maybe slightly bigger. It wasn't that neatly wrapped, but it wasn't as horrible as Anise's was. It had a tag on it and it said…

Tear.

"Tear, this one seems to be yours." And she took it, carefully inspecting it, like one of them customs people, checking the baggage. She sighed and opened it, wrapper and all and took out a…

Small teddy bear, the size of a normal person's hand.

She flushed a deep red and looked at it, almost hugging it.

"So cute… thanks, Luke." And they all stared at him. He flinched a few times.

"Ehh… no problems… I knew you'd like cute things." He said, flushing the same colour, as dark as his hair. Jade stared at the alleged 'couple' and smirked, doing his infamous sigh.

"Noelle, this one had your name on it." He said, pushing his glasses up and passing the quite heavy rectangular sized box to her direction. She accepted it and was immediately surprised from the weight. Everyone else looked at the size curiously. Though Lina, being Lina, already knew what it was. It was like she was PSYCHIC!

She opened it and found herself facing a toolbox, with many different, but good quality tools. And there was only one person who would get her tools…

"Thanks, Guy." She said, looking at it as if she was in some sort of fon machine heaven.

"Hey. You two, go to your fon machine heaven." Lina said, stifling her giggles. And the rest of them (as in everyone but Jade) started to laugh. The two blushed.

"Hey, Lina. This one had your name on it." Luke said, passing the box. She just stared at it, not even thinking about opening it.

"Duchess? What's wrong?" She snapped out of her daydream.

"N-nothing." She choked out as she attempted to open it. Shamefully, she couldn't since her fingers were trembling and SOMEONE used incredibly sticky GLUE.

"Anyone have a knife?" She asked. Luke took out his sword, but she immediately declined him.

"I said, _knife_ not sword." And Tear pulled out one of her daggers.

"Well, it's better than a sword." And she cut opened the wrapping paper, and the box.

She opened it to find….

"You got to be kidding me." Luke said. She pulled out a large teddy bear and a bottle of wine. The bear had a few hearts on it, also holding a heart. It was a light shade of pink, though you could mistake it for looking white.

"I totally agree. Who the heck would give me something like this?" She asked, stupidly. Everyone looked around. No one said anything. Though if you'd look at their face expression.

"No… no… no…" She muttered. She had looked at Jade's face, which wore the 'I've done it' smirk.

"Have you figured it out?" Tear asked, hugging the large bear, under her permission, of course.

"Uhh…yeah… that cold hearted sarcastic Colonel over there." She said, from stuttering to being normal. Everyone, and I mean everyone, apart from the victim and the accused.

"J-jade?" Guy choked out.

"Yes, Jade." Lina said sighing.

"My, my. I never knew Jade was the romantic."

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

At the end of it all, Ion got Jade a bottle of the best champagne that he could find, of course with the help of Lina, since he wasn't legally allowed to buy any, Fon Master or not. Coincidently, Tear and Luke got each other's names, as Tear bought him a sword cleaning set, with a frilly handkerchief, which was the way that everyone identified who got what. Since there were an odd number, Noelle had given Lina a book all about the Albiore, and Lina gave Natalia a makeup set, since well, she was the princess. And then Natalia gave Tear another teddy bear, the size of Tokunaga's normal size.

And why am I typing it like this?

Because.

Lina wasn't there. She had 'escaped' when the riot began.

* * *

Me: This is why I gave you the warning before. I just felt bored and wanted to do something festive, a little bit funny. I mean, can you imagine Van fretting over the littlest New Years Eve and New Years Party?

Tear: I swear, that what my brother does.

Luke: Are you serious?

Tear: Go check studio 15-

Me: Studio 37.

Tear: What?

Me: I moved them to studio 37 since my other story got moved to studio 15.

Luke: Who did that?

Me: Blame the director.

Jade: She does-

Me: Jade, go back to studio 14.

Tear: Sigh... She doesn't own ToA. She would like a review or two.

Me: Goodbye.


	19. Part 19: Questioning Who, Baticul?

**Part 19 Questioning Who, Baticul?**

They left Keterburg, wishing the Governor (Jade's sister) a Happy New Year, before shipping themselves off the Baticul. As they flew, Natalia kept looking out, through the window, not even bothering looking anywhere else, or even talking. Lina was in a muttering state, refusing to talk to anyone, especially Jade. The rest of them were the normal and somewhat merry bunch.

"Noelle, are we almost there?" Guy asked. She turned around as they finally got out of the cloud.

"Baticul ahead." She said, as she smiled, pointing at the large, shadowy mountain that was right in front of them. Everyone, apart from the two ladies, sighed as they landed close to the area, since they couldn't land anywhere closer.

"Now, time to convince. This could either end up bloody, or we could be successful." Lina said, as she broke herself out of her muttering state and walked out of the Albiore, once it landed.

* * *

As everyone walked around the streets of Baticul, Lina stopped at a rather large house. Everyone else looked at her, confused.

"What's up, Lina?" Luke asked her. She turned around, mainly facing Guy and smiled.

"Guy. It's time. Time to meet your cousin." She said, smiling still, though her lips parted and for a split second, giggling as she saw him pale and freeze on the spot.

"Or you don't want to?"

"I'll pass. We have to speak to his Majesty, correct?" He said. Lina sighed.

"Whatever. Let's keep going then." She said shrugging as the rest of the group followed her towards the lifts of the confusing town. (Who else found Baticul frustrating with the lifts? Why does it have to be soo big????) As they walked, Lina yet again took in the scenery she had never seen since she was… well…. Fifteen. And then she felt something. Like the fonons in her body went out of control. She went on her knees, clutching her arm. And then she couldn't hold that stance any longer, therefore her body collapsing on the ground.

"Lina! Are you alright?" Luke, Tear and Anise exclaimed.

"Duchess!" Ion cried out.

"Lina!" Was the only thing Jade exclaimed, as her face turned around, to her left.

"I-I don't think I-I'm safe here a-any more… I-I'll be back…" She said, smiling. The others looked at her.

"How can you smile?" She then laughed, pretty cheerfully if you ask me.

"Sorry, b-but…I….just c-can… From the s-skies to the e-earth. I-I ask thee to s-send m-me… to a-a p-p-place of s-s..erenity… T-Teleport…." Was the last, well second last thing she mumbled out, as she disappeared.

"Just meet th-the king… I'll me-meet you in G-Grand Ch-chokmah…" And she truly left and passed out. The group looked at where she once fell. And then Jade stood up.

"Let's go. She'll be in a safe place. If you're concerned for her, let's get this over and done with and then go to Grand Chokmah." Was all he said, as he started to walk to the castle. The others diverted their gaze to him, before, slowly but surely, the rest of them were getting up and walking towards the castle.

* * *

Lina found herself in a familiar place. A place where she had been numerous times. A place that no one knew existed. Well, a small amount of the population knew about it. This was the perfect place for her. Why? Because the Score never existed there. The people, no, the civilisation never liked the Score, and created a place away from it. Yes, they knew it existed, but they just didn't like it. This place was surround with a whole lot of trees and felt like… tropical forest, except there was barely any heat. It was actually quite cold there. It was because the sun never shone there.

"Ahh… Lina. Nice to see you back again. Seventh Fonon troubles this time?" She stood up and nodded. She walked up the stairs where an old man stood. He was a genuine wizard looking freak, if you wanted to say that.

"How have things been going?" she asked. The man smiled at her.

"Well, we've been watching the Order of Lorelei and the two empires, but we don't know when to intervene." He said, as they walked to the items shop. She smiled.

"We're working on that. Currently, my comrades are in Baticul, convincing Kimlasca to do peace treaty talks." She said, as she opened the door, for the old man to enter. And then he laughed, quite heartily might I add.

"So, you staying here long?" He asked, as he grabbed a box of medicine, specifically for Lina. She looked at him apologetically.

"No. I have to get to Grand Chokmah as soon as possible. I came here since my body reacted to the Seventh Fonons in Baticul too abruptly, which caused my body to warp, like before. I wonder if there is a congregation of Seventh Fonons in Baticul."

"It could be possible. Talk to our researchers about that." He said, as she took the tablet. She put the rest of them in her bag. And then she got a lightbulb of memory.

"I'll go in a few." And she left, showing that she definitely lied.

As she walked around the town, which was quite small, and had a barrier around it, preventing just the Seventh Fonons in, she found herself near the second biggest building of the whole place.

"The Research Institute." She said, as she entered. She walked around until she found the person she was looking for. A woman, who was about twenty-five, dressed in a lab coat. She had unusually bright pink hair and pink eyes which was tied in a ponytail, like it usually was. She entered the door and spooked her. You can already tell her personality.

"Boo." Was all she said, as the girl flinched, jumped and did everything that you would do if you were spooked or surprised.

"Ah, Lina. Nice to see you again." She said, normally, though you could hear the slight annoyance, relief and sarcasm in there.

"Back at you, Ana." The girls name was Anastasia Polo, though Lina resorted to call her Ana, since her full name was way too long. You could say the two were best friends… but it was one of them, 'laugh at something I do ridiculously and then help' friendships.

"What brings you to these parts of the world?" She asked, as she wrote someone on her clipboard. Lina chuckled.

"The mayor wanted me to ask you if there is a congregation of fonons in Baticul." Was all she said. Ana laughed.

"That, I can do." And she pressed a few buttons on the machine and the keyboard.

"There seems to be an unusual pattern of Seventh Fonons in the Castle." And that's when everything clicked in place.

"That explains why I felt the strong fonon pattern be absorbed into me. I can't absorb Seventh Fonons. That means…." And then she forgot what she was going to say.

"That something related to the Score is there…" Ana finished for her. And then it really all clicked in place.

"Mohs! He probably has a fragment of the Seventh Fonstone with him. That would be strong enough to make these side-effects occur. And I did hear he was in Baticul." Lina said, putting the pieces from mental, to verbal. Ana nodded.

"Let me see…" And she pressed a few mote keys, letting them see a visual. There, before them was a picture of Luke, Tear, Anise, Jade, Natalia and Ion, with Mieu. And then there was the King, his personal servant and Grand Maestro Mohs.

Hang on…

MOHS!?

"So I was right. I'd better go there immediately." Lina said, walking out of the building. She stopped when she heard a shout.

"Lina! Wait up!" She turned around to face Ana. She had dropped her clipboard and gave her a packet of something.

"This is the correct medication you require. The one you just had only will last about an hour. This one will last a day. There's a year's worth of them here." She said. Lina smiled as she walked with her to the portal, the two talking about… well, how things had been ever since the last time she had been there.

The portal was a small round glyph. It was surrounded by trees, and well, many plants too. Lina sighed as she stood on it.

"How can I teleport in here, but not be able to teleport out?" She whined as the light started to engulf her. As you can see, she really hates portals.

"We'll work on that. Come again soon, Li!" 'Li' was the nickname Ana had for Lina, since she was completely lazy, even though she was a researcher.

"I will, Ana!" She shouted, waving before everything went white, then went black.

* * *

"Don't you dare talk to my daughter like that." The King said to his personal servant, using a stern and firm voice. The 'group' smiled as Mohs and the others looked shocked. And then they all heard a noise. A squeaky noise. And then a familiar voice.

"What the heck?" She said, as she was thrown into the audience room. Everyone looked at the woman, on the floor face first.

"I said Grand Chokmah's castle, not Baticul." She muttered to herself, as she got up. The first thing she noticed was…

"Oh, hey guys." Lina said, smiling at the group, as she placed the box of medicine which had a red stripe on the box in her pocket.

"Lina! You're alright!" Luke exclaimed, as the rest of them ran towards her. She turned around to face the King.

"My apologises, your Majesty. It seems that my portal has gotten to the wrong place" Lina said, as she bowed. 'Better tell Ana to fix that machine.' She mentally thought, as a note to self.

"No worries, Duchess." He said, smiling. He stood up and went to hug Natalia, who was in near tears. The rest of the group watched, as she smiled.

* * *

"Lina, how did you appear in the middle of nowhere?" Luke and Tear asked.

"Hmm….. should I tell, or not?" She taunted out loud. Everyone looked at her, quite confused.

"Tell what?" Anise instantly said. Lina laughed.

"…You know this isn't money related." Lina said, almost immediately. The whole group laughed (of course a smirk from Jade).

"Hey! Don't blame me for being curious!" Anise cried. Whoops, I forgot to state where they were. They were currently on the outskirts of Baticul, walking towards the Albiore.

"Maybe I'll take you there, one day." She said, smiling. The rest of the group looked at her, still confused.

"What is the name of this place?" Jade asked. Lina laughed.

"Ispania. Ancient Ispania." Was all she said. The group gasped, as they asked her for questions.

* * *

Have you ever wondered, if someone was to ask Lina too many question to the brink of annoyance? What would happen?

"PRISM SWORD!" Lina shouted as they camped near the border town of Kaitzur. The victim flinched as he got the burst of light, slicing him slightly.

"That's what you get for bugging some info out of me that you don't want to know." Lina said, as she stood up from the campfire, and smiling at the slightly burnt Jade. He didn't say anything as his glasses went askew.

"I'll grab Tear." Was all she said, walking to the direction of the girls tent. She somewhat sighed in pity for him. Somewhat.

* * *

It was just past afternoon when they got to Grand Chokmah. Peony and Nephry sat in their respective seats as Mizu sighed.

"Do I need to be there?" She whined as the two nodded.

"Just because you are the Duchess, doesn't necessarily mean you can jump out of these things." Nephry said, actually smiling in a sympathetic way. She sighed.

"So when are you planning these peace talks, Peony?" Lina asked, in a annoyed tone, as she frowned. He laughed.

"Well, in about a week or two. Where are we to hold it?" He asked. Everyone looked at Ion, but he shook his head.

"Usually, Daath would be the best idea…."

"Anywhere out of Mohs's influence would be the best." Tear said automatically. And then Luke hit a light bulb.

"Tear? What about Yulia City? It's in the Qliphoth, where we are moving the whole continent." Luke said, getting all excited. She nodded. And eventually, everyone else nodded. And then it was something that Lina noticed. The medication she had had a red stripe on it. Not the usual blue.

"I'm sorry, but I can't hang here long. I have to go see an old friend." Lina said, abruptly as she peeked through her pocket. As she thought, the stripe was red, not the usual blue.

"Where is this friend?" Peony and basically everyone else tried to pry out.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can tell you. Confidential to my family." Was all she said.

'Must remind Ana to fix that portal.'

* * *

Me: Yes. Yes. I had to put Ancient Ispania in the equation. I didn't want to see it gone, so I put it in a isolated place.

Jade: And can you explain to us why the GA crew was with us a few days ago?

Me: That's not my decision. They refused to see me.

Jade: Alright then. Indignation!

Me: Umm....ehh.... what?!

- - - - - - - - -

Tear: Due to some technical difficulties, this skit will no longer continue.

Luke: Tear, go heal her.

Tear: Fine.

Luke: She doesn't own ToA. She would really appreciate reviews.

Tear: Goodbye!

Luke: See ya!


	20. Part 20: Ancient Ispania

**Part 20 Ancient Ispania**

As they walked out of the castle, it was silent. She sighed.

"Alright, you're all coming with me. I already sent word to Noelle. She's staying at my place for the time being." She said, as she sighed. The others looked at her.

"One thing. Ion, you need a disguise. And Luke too. The rest of you should be fine. Or maybe Tear and Natalia." Lina said, as they kept walking. The group looked at her curiously.

"Oh, Ancient Ispania doesn't rely on the Score. So Ion and Luke are definitely needy of a disguise." She explained as the group shook their heads.

"A place without the Score?" Guy asked.

"Hey. They have many fon machines there. My friend works in the research centre."

Cue the fan girl like squeal.

"Guy. Shut up." And then Lina remembered something else.

"Jade, I forbid you to report this to Peony. Luke, Natalia, Ion, Anise and Tear, you mustn't tell a soul. Guy, I'll skin you alive if you tell anyone. This place is supposed to be extinct." Lina added. The group nodded solemnly. She smiled.

"Then let the disguising begin!"

* * *

Ion was just wearing a civilian set of clothing and was wearing a brown hair wig, with brown contacts. This was to make sure he looked like Anise's brother. Luke on the other hand wore a different set of clothing.

His hair was no longer the same old red. It was too risky to even allow him with red hair. Since there was only possibly one family that could have red hair. The Fabre family of course. He had blonde hair, and blue contacts. His clothing looked somewhat like a mercenary, except for the fact that his sword wasn't there. He was basically dressed like a mercenary, forced to fight with his hands. Well, Guy had his sword.

"Ok, Ion, you are Anise's brother, Luke, you are Guy's brother." Lina said, as they exited her house. The four mentioned looked at her stupidly.

"If you two aren't different, they won't notice. If you two are, they'll suspect something." And she stood at the forest, right in front of the hedge, which had closed. She sighed.

"From the skies to the earth. I ask thee to send us to a place of serenity. Teleport." And they slowly disappeared.

* * *

Strangely enough, Lina found herself no to have fainted. The others were on the ground, blacked out. She sighed as she 'Turbulenced' them.

"What was that for!?" Luke exclaimed as he shot up, like the others. They all surveyed the scenery around them.

"Welcome to Ancient Ispania." Was all she said, as she turned around to face the stairs.

"Lina! I see you've brought a few guests." And they all looked up in that direction, facing an old man.

"Yes, yes. They insisted. In reality, I only came back, since Ana gave me the wrong medication." The man nodded.

"She's in the research institute, she got promoted to the 'Operation: Seventh' project." And she paled visibly.

"Well, see you later." Was all he said. She turned around to face the people.

"Take a tour of the town. Just, Tear, Natalia, Ion and Luke, don't use your fonons here. You'll get severely hurt." And she walked off, trailed by Guy.

"What are you doing, following me?" She asked. Guy flinched, slightly.

"I'm seeing this research institute." Another person said. She turned around to face Jade.

"Be my guest." And the two followed them as the rest of them did, since they were too afraid to go anywhere else.

As she walked, Jade had asked her a question, once they were dawned upon with a big building.

"How did you know of this place?" She turned around and sighed.

"The week after I left the manor, I walked aimlessly around the continent, until I met this young man. He teleported me here, and told me that I needed to be there for them. I helped with their problem, mostly using my powers and now I'm regarded as the 'Queen' of the area." She said, as she walked into the place. They followed in suit.

"Ah, good morning, Lady Lina." The receptionist said, like she normally would.

"Where is 'Operation: Seventh'? I heard she got moved." Lina asked/explained. The receptionist smiled.

"Highest floor. She's there doing some research, with a few fon machines." She replied, as she started to type something. Lina smiled and waved, walking off…

…..

"Fon machines? Do I get to play with those?" Guy asked. Lina frowned and smacked him on the top of his head.

"No. This is too important of an operation."

"What is 'Operation: Seventh'?" Jade asked. She smiled.

"It's a group of researchers who study Seventh Fonons. They suspect that there is more to Seventh Fonons, not just healing." Tear looked at her, confused. Ion did as well.

"What? Who thought of that?" Lina laughed slightly harder as she found herself facing a door with a fonon scanner.

"Who else? Yours truly, of course. And of course, I told them to stop, but…" She said, as she lifted her sleeve and flashed it onto the scanner, causing it to beep.

"Go in."

"Welcome back, Lady Lina. 'Operation: Seventh' has just had a success." Was what she heard as she opened the door.

"Explain." She said, as she walked in into the dark room.

"They have just found out that they can merge all fonons, Seventh included, into a new type of power." Lina stood there, not really listening.

"Lina?" She looked in front of her. Ana was walking towards her direction. She sighed as she took out the box with the red stripe on it.

"Explain why my medication has a red stripe on it." She said, as she pointed to the significant red stripe. Ana flushed of embarrassment and disappeared for about a second. She reappeared with the right one.

"Sorry, that's Realai's medication." She said, as she placed the one Lina held into the machine and teleported it, somehow. Guy looked at it amazingly.

"And explain to us who this is." Anise asked, grumbling some sort. Lina laughed.

"This is Ana, Anastasia Polo Callaware. She's a researcher at this facility, and one of my best friends. I think she is currently the… uhh…" And she didn't know what to say in the end.

"I'm the leader of 'Operation: Seventh'." And Lina gasped before, well, losing it. Again, it being her sanity.

* * *

"Sorry, it just I thought I left Justin in that position." Lina said, as she rubbed the back of her neck. The others watched the scene placed, quite confused, in front of them carefully, for some reason.

"He left." And it was silence, until Lina remembered something.

"Oh yeah, you need to fix that portal." Ana looked at her, confused.

"It sent me to the Baticul Castle, not Grand Chokmah's palace." That's when she understood. She nodded, now her rubbing the back of her head.

"Yes… sorry about that. We tried to repair it, but so far, we need you to fix it." Lina sighed. She placed her hands up in mercy, which the group was surprised to see.

"That problem again? I'd rather go into that coma." Lina said, as she pulsed the fonons through her arms. All fonons, apart from the Seventh came together; making somewhat the same colours that was on her arm. She walked downstairs and to the portal, where she released the energy. It, yes, dissipated, but it was what she was aiming for. A small bright light was released and they couldn't see periodically. And then it was gone.

"Done. The battery's recharged."

* * *

"Well, Ana, I've got to get out of here. I'll be back to analyse the Op-" Lina said, as she stood onto the portal, but Ana had cut her off.

"The pleasantries aren't needed. Just go. And say 'hi' to my mother for me, while you're there. I know you won't be back for a while." She said, as the group disappeared, heading towards Grand Chokmah.

"And now, we'll have to see if this really works." Lina muttered before it was light, then dark, as the light engulfed the whole group. The last thing she could hear was a fangirlish scream from Guy, about how fascinating the fon machines there were.

* * *

"…….." Lina sat by a campfire, just outside the Theor Forest. They had gotten there by the time the sun was down, but she didn't want to risk going into the forest at that time. She sat there, head in hands, muttering some a horrible curse (bad word! – lol, that's from your speech, pal!), which she didn't want Anise to hear. Thank Lorelei she was getting more firewood.

"Lina?" She looked up to face Luke and Tear, who were smiling. She looked at the two curiously.

"Yes?" She asked. Tear looked at her form. She was somewhat trembling, holding onto a small… locket?

"Do we go to Yulia City after Grand Chokmah? Noelle wanted to know, but she's too busy in maintenance." Lina shrugged and sighed.

"Why are you asking me? I don't really care." Was all she said. The two also shrugged and left. She took the locket out and held it out, close to the fire's light so she could see it. It was placed in her medicine box, along with a small note to hand it in to her mother. She opened it to find the one that she saw. The one that she couldn't save. Ana's father.

_Flashback_

"_Help!!!" Lina turned herself around the burning city. She found a small family, a mother, a father and an adult, somewhat about her age. She was currently twenty-six, resting in a small town which no one knew existed. A minute ago, it was a nice peaceful town, the next minute, it was a fireball. She muttered curses as she ran to the family._

"_Come with me!" She shouted. The family looked at her, uncertain. She flashed a small smile and took out a hand, which the teenager took, and pulled her out._

"_Mum! Come with me!" The adult exclaimed. Her mother looked at her uncertain, but then followed, but was surprised that her husband didn't come with them._

"_I'll hold it off, go!" He shouted as he got a regular bucket of water. Lina sighed as she pushed the two woman in the direction of safety._

"_I'll bring your loved one back, I swear." She said, as she ran to his direction. The two nodded and ran off._

"_Sir! Come with me! You'll die at this rate!" Lina exclaimed. But it was all too late. The house was underneath a tree, which just so happen to collapse, and the man just so happened to be in the way. She ran and attempted to push him out of the way, but was too late. She blacked out the moment she pushed him out of the way, as a large branch whacked her in the head._

"…na! Lina!" Lina broke out of her daydream, to find it was midnight. She looked up to face Guy.

"What's up?" She asked, as she placed the locket in her pocket.

"You can go to sle-" But she cut him off with a sigh.

"I'm not sleeping tonight. I have something to do. I'll be back by morning. If I'm not you can get Jade to 'curse me into the oblivion'."

"What are you doing?" He exclaimed. She placed a hand to his mouth immediately.

"Visiting a friend, and mourning the dead." Was all she said, as she teleported away, accidently taking Guy with her.

* * *

The rest of the group woke up nice and early to find that Guy went missing. And Lina too, since their tent was completely empty. Half of the group went into an immediately state of panic, until they saw a small light, and a piece of paper falling from it. Jade walked up to it and picked up the note.

"Don't panic. We're near Grand Chokmah, we'll meet you at the castle at noon. I need to do something. Guy's with me. If we're not there by noon, then curse me to the oblivion, Jade. If you're in deep trouble, there's a pendant coming soon, wear it, keep it hidden, and summon me." Jade mumbled out. One time lapse later, a pendant came out from the almost exact same light. It was a pendant with a light green center, the sides pulsing with the colours of Lina's mark.

"Lovely." Was all he muttered out as he gave the note to Luke. The group nodded, until they heard a rustle from the leaves. And then our favourite idiot appears, with some sort of fon slot seal.

"Optimistic Lina, come out from your hiding spot!" Little did he know, he triggered the pendant.

* * *

Me: Time to bring Dist back from the dead!

Dist: But I wasn't dead!

Me: Then, I officially announce Dist the Reaper, as dead.

Dist: I'm not dead. And it's ROSE!

Me: Dist the Ridiculous, same thing.

Jade: ***** (my name, which will be censored!) and Dist? I'm disgusted.

Me: Hey! That's not it! I was going to get you and Lina to fry him.

Jade (evil smirk), Lina (who was passing by, and heard her name, walking in with a evil smile): DOUBLE INDIGNATION!

Me: I don't own ToA. I know there's violence in these skits these days, but I need to get the anger out of my system. Review, please? Bye.


	21. Part 21: The Battle Against Dist, Part 2

**Part 21 The Battle Against Dist, Part II**

Lina, who was currently sitting on a seat, facing an old woman, sighed.

"So, Anastasia's alright?" She asked. Lina smiled.

"Yes, she's okay. She's been a researcher for a while. You may visit her if you like." Lina said, slicing a piece of humble pie (figure of speech!). Guy was standing outside, like he was instructed to, playing around with a fon machine. They were just on the outskirts of Grand Chokmah, near a small cottage, which Lina herself built.

"No, no. She doesn't need me in her life anymore. I wonder why she isn't married, though. I'd like a grandchild or two." She said, sighing. Lina stared at the woman, not reacting at all. Basically, she froze for a second and then… spoke.

"I wonder myself, too. I thought she would've married by now." She said, as she stood up.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well then, bye." She said, waving from her seat.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Callaware." And she felt something suck her up. She ran outside, where she pulled Guy's sleeve and disappeared.

* * *

Lina found herself thrown out of a portal, with her mace in her hands. She also found herself enunciating a spell.

"STARLIGHT EXPLOSION!" A rather strange spell, even she didn't know of. A few stars started to circle him and I think we all know what happens next. Forget about Tempest's Fury, this was her NEW Mystic Arte.

"What happened?" Guy said, from right behind her. The group watched the scene in front of them.

"….damn… I was so clo-" But he didn't get another chance to speak as Lina walked right up to his figure, which he was twitching on the ground.

"My, my, Saphir. Nice try." She spat out, as she looked at his scared form.

"………" No one dared to even join her, or stop her, as they were all too scared, Jade included. He could feel the dark aura around her.

"Seriously. How low do you go? Reviving the dead isn't going to do you any good. She's gone. No matter how much you miss her. Now go. If I find you one more time trying, don't expect to breathe anymore." She spat, though this time, through gritted teeth. He scrambled up to his chair and flew away. Lina looked at that form, instantly smacking herself in the face.

"What the hell was I doing? I should've killed him!" She exclaimed. But then she managed to calm herself down, the dark aura disappearing.

"You alright, Lina?" Natalia and Ion asked. She sighed.

"Yeah." She said, smiling. She had placed her mace back into its respectful place and smiled.

"Well, that took care of that." And then she lost her sanity again, after hearing the words out of Jade's mouth.

"My, my. You're going soft. Old age, huh?"

* * *

The group managed to find themselves at the castle, having to drag Jade along, since he was definitely in no condition to walk.

The two 'friends' stared at each other.

Peony broke a smile.

And then he laughed himself, even to the point where his stomach started to hurt.

Even Nephry was chuckling.

"Sorry about that, Jade…" Lina said all red. Jade was basically, dead.

"I went way too far." And, yet again, being herself, she ran off. Luke knew she was going to do that and followed her. The rest of them were still dealing with Jade, Peony laughing himself to another world, basically to hysterics, and Nephry, who was in the middle, concerned for her brother, but watching the funny scene in front of her, in which her best friend did the damage.

* * *

Strangely enough, Asch was in Grand Chokmah, and he somehow started an argument with Lina, not Luke.

"Why do you act as if you're the best in the world?" Asch exclaimed. Lina was standing there, all calm.

"You talking to me? How about yourself, Mr. I-Think-I'm-Better-An-Everyone-Else?" Lina retorted back, calmly.

"I don't!"

"Yes you do. Now go back to Headquarters, where you should be." She said, yet again calmly.

"You're saying that because you don't have a future! You're basically a replica!" He exclaimed before running off. Honestly, he didn't regret a word he said. Lina stood there, shocked at the boy's retort, looking at the retreating figure. Luke didn't dare move a finger, since he didn't want to lose one.

And then Lina started to tear up. She pushed Luke away and ran off. He could see the tears on the ground, where there were splotches of tears. She ran off into the direction of the port, where she sat down, and burst into tears.

* * *

Luke walked back to the palace, where he found Jade actually standing up.

"Oh, Luke. Where's Lina?" Natalia asked, concerned. He paled.

"…uhh…ummm…errr…" He didn't dare give an exact answer as he saw the face expression that she had. The one of fear and sadness.

"Where is she, Luke?" Peony asked.

"…at the port…" He mumbled. The whole group wondered the same thing. Why was she there? Until someone was brave enough to ask.

"Luke. What happened?" Jade asked. He looked at the Colonel right in the eye.

"We bumped into Asch, and he shouted that she had no future. And was basically a replica." And everyone turned red. With anger. Apart from Natalia that is.

"And I think she was about to slash him down." Luke added, as encouragement, though that was a complete lie.

"…Asch. That idiot. Lina's touchy subject that to be breached. I would leave her alone. She won't talk to anyone. I don't even think she'll do anything until she gets her revenge." Nephry explained. Natalia instantly cried out loud. Probably an instinct.

"No! She won't kill Asch!" Jade laughed.

"Of course she won't kill him. She's not that stupid to kill someone who actually is quite important. She'll probably will inflict pain on him, the exact same that he had when calling her a 'replica'. She doesn't like anyone to think that she doesn't have a future. Just because she was destined to die, didn't mean that she didn't wanted to keep her hopes up." He explained, as he started to walk outside of the audience hall.

"That was low, Asch." Guy muttered.

* * *

Lina stared at the harbour. That's all she did. She didn't want to speak to anyone. She didn't want to see anyone. All she wanted to do was cry. He was right. She didn't have a future. While he was fortunate enough to have one. Her hair spilled out, as it rained upon her. Her tears were mixed with the rain. You couldn't tell the difference. And then she heard footsteps. Though, this time she was prepared, and knew who it was.

"Jade. Nephry. Peony." She said. The three standing behind her smiled.

"Come on, Lina." Peony said, as he chuckled. She didn't say anything else. She didn't move.

"Lina?" Nephry asked. This time, she moved slightly. To her left.

"Lady Lina." Jade said. She did a little more this time. She actually spoke.

"Why didn't I die? Why didn't the Score play out correctly?" She whispered as she looked up.

"Dying might have been the best choice at the time, but not now. We need you, Lina." Nephry pleaded. She got up and held her mace. You couldn't really tell she was crying. Or maybe I was exaggerating. Her eyes were all red. She took off her disguise and sighed.

"Maybe… I should go back." She muttered as she walked towards the exit of Grand Chokmah. But there was one voice that made her change.

"Where are you doing, Optimistic Lina?" Instantly, Lina's mood changed. From sadness to anger.

"And what the HELL are you doing here again!" She growled as she saw the man, who she desperately wanted to kill.

"To kill you!" He said, as he threw the fon slot seal.

"Lina!" Nephry and Peony exclaimed.

"Watch out!" Jade shouted, calmly, which I find theoretically impossible, but whatever. But she didn't move. Dist laughed as it made contact. But…

"INDIGNATION!" She shouted. It actually worked. He was yet on the ground, twitching. She laughed.

"Sorry, Saphir. But, you need to research more. Fon slot seals don't work on me." She said, quite coldly, basically the way she played it out. And she didn't give him mercy, like he mentally wished for. She immediately changed back to her angry self.

"I ask thee, the stars to utilise and cause undesirable pain. I stand under them, and command them to destroy those who threaten. STARLIGHT EXPLOSION!" She added a random word at the end of the spell, since she felt like it. And a few stars circled him. Then they multiplied, until the completely obscured his vision, since they were… rainbow. And then they exploded, sending him and his chair into the sea.

"Go do something worthwhile next time." She spat as she walked away. Nephry started to laugh.

"Well, she isn't feeling sad anymore."

"That's the only thing I'll ever give Saphir credit for in my life." Peony added as they walked away.

* * *

"Where is she?" Everyone exclaimed as they searched the town for her, in the rain. That everyone did include the two renewed royals. And that made Peony remember something.

"You know Jade, you do know that you are now my brother-in-law." She said, chuckling. Jade smirked somewhat evilly.

"I was quite aware of that the moment we got the invitations." He said, as they entered House Feldesca, their only hope of knowledge. They were of course greeted by none other than her sister.

"Emperor! What brings you here today?" She asked, as she walked to the door.

"Do you know where your sister maybe?" She laughed, which made everyone else confused. And then they heard a familiar sound. The Albiore.

"That would be your answer." She said, when Noelle ran out to them.

"Noelle! Where did you go?" Luke exclaimed. She got off.

"Yulia City. Lina wanted me to take her there and come back. She said she needed some time to herself." And this is why Jade chuckled. He took out a fon machine, which somewhat looked like a transmitter.

"And this is why I place these-" And Realai laughed.

"What's the matter?" Jade asked, in a pretty provoke voice.

"I recall she took it out and gave it to me."

And everyone laughed at Jade's stupidity to hide something in her bag.

* * *

Lina was standing in the office in Yulia City. Actually, it wasn't really the office. But I like to call it that. It was a meeting room, the one near the Yulia Road (I think). She was currently walking to Teodoro.

"So, are you sure that you've found them?" Lina asked. He nodded.

"It wasn't written in the Score, but our sources have discovered them." Lina was grinning from ear to ear. And then she turned around to face the people she had been waiting for.

"Hello, Duke Fabre, King Ingobert." And she bowed. The two looked at her curiously.

"Who are you?" The Duke asked. Anime fall! She took off her disguise and smiled.

"I am Duchess Lina Feldesca of Malkuth. Nice to meet you again, Duke." And he sighed.

"So, living proof that the Score has been over-turned." She chuckled.

"Duchess-"

"Please, your Majesty, no need for the formals yet. Lina is just fine."

"Lina, I thought you were with Luke and the others." She scowled slightly, but it went unnoticed.

"I was. I came early because I had a let me just say, preferably unwanted meeting with Asch." They knew who Asch was. They knew that he was Luke.

"Lina." And she turned around. And jumped.

"Y-yes?" She choked out. There, right in front of her was the whole group.

"You have some explaining to do." Nephry said, smiling. She frowned instantly.

"Sorry. But, can we get this meeting started? I see that everyone is here, and quite present. I would like to check on my sister right after this." And the King gave her a concerning look.

"Realai? She should be here." Lina laughed.

"You see, my sister is good with paperwork, but not these big meetings. Though if you need her, use Jade's transmitter and she should speak."

* * *

Me: I'm finally bothered to get to the story line, and get Dist destroyed.

Jade: Good job.

Me: Thanks.

Lina: Problem is, what's the next chapter?

Me: I dunno. I'm not writing that one. My sis wanted to. She wouldn't stop nagging me. Though I only let her type a little bit.

Tear: She doesn't own ToA. Review please?

Luke: Finally, an appearance of Asch where I don't get scolded.

Lina: T_T


	22. Part 22: Kimlasca and Malkuth, United?

**Part 22 Kimlasca and Malkuth, United?**

Lina sat in the conference room (whatever you want to call it, the room with the HUGE table) listening to the conversation, adding words every now and then. Until…

"Wait a moment." She heard this from Guy. Instantly she stood up, blocking him.

"I know what you want. I'll deal with this-" And he took his sword to her neck. Her eyes went wide opened, as did everyone's.

"I… see… continue on then." She said, silently walking behind him. She didn't have her mace with her, and even if she did, she didn't have the heart to attack her cousin. He took the piece of paper that they all signed.

"Are you sure you can keep this one? You did this last time for the Hod War, and that didn't work." The King said, something, as a retort.

"But we were following the Score back then. This is different." And he sighed.

"You destroyed Hod. Your country killed my parents. Killed Lina's brother. And all you say is 'that you were following the Score'?" Guy said, outraged. Lina stood behind him, slightly terrified, but she did what she had to do anyways.

"Sorry, Guy." Was all she said. She took his sword and threw it to the ground.

"Guy, if you want revenge, take me instead."

"You killed my mother. She was a Kimlascan. Kimlascan soldier sent to keep the peace treaty. Eugenie Cecille." Natalia ran to her father's side. Lina stood there, not knowing what to do. She had prevented what she thought would really never happen, but she didn't want her cousin to go into an outrage.

"Guy. Stand back." He didn't budge. So, she did the next thing she could think of.

"Guy. I said, stand back. Forcing what you want using a threat isn't going to help. If you want to do this, find another mean of getting information." That hit Guy quite hard in the chest, as his eyes were wide opened. He looked at the ground, face full of regret as he walked back. Lina sighed.

"Why did you destroy Hod? Why did you kill the innocent people on an island that had more potential than you can think of?" Lina asked the Kimlascan side. Her eyes showed the emotions of her worst memories. Sadness. Pleading. Fear. This was something majority of the people in the room hadn't seen before.

"Because, we followed the Score." Lina's feelings went from sadness to a somewhat controlled anger.

"I'm sorry, but I have nothing more to say to you. Maybe my mother and father might. Or my sister. Or whatever's left of my family." She said, walking back to her side and sitting down. Her tone, which she tried to control, ended up in a disgusted sort of way (curtly and coldly) that showed that she wasn't happy. Natalia flashed a scowl to her, but then quickly withdrew it, since she knew that her whole family had been ripped apart from it, and herself? Hadn't suffered anything. Nothing at all.

"I think I should say something here." Peony said, as he looked in Lina's direction.

"We were the ones who destroyed Hod. My father didn't want the country to look bad, so we blamed it on Kimlasca." Lina turned around to face him, her eyes showing shock. She stood up. It was something that hit her. Something she had forgotten. Something she got told once. About Hod. She held her head, in pain. Tear immediately ran to her side.

"I… remember… that… day… of… the meeting…" Was all she said. It took her a few minutes to calm down, but she eventually did. She was sitting on the ground, since she couldn't cope with sitting on a chair any more.

"When I was about twelve, the nobles held a meeting a few days before Hod was destroyed. Apparently, they had fomicry machines there, which were turned off, due to the threat that Kimlasca might use them. But during one of their last tests, a boy, about the age of eleven, was used as a test subject to artificially create a hyperresonance. This hyperresonance caused Hod to be destroyed. The meeting was to place the blame on Kimlasca." Lina recited, as the memory played through her mind.

"Poor boy… I feel sorry for the test subject." And then Lina had another light bulb moment.

"Apparently, the boy's family name was Fende, which concerns me a lot." Guy and Tear both flinched.

"Fende?!?" They both exclaimed. The rest of the group looked at them, confused.

"Guy, Tear, you know this person?" Luke asked, frantically.

"Yes. I think Lina does too. And you too, Luke." Guy asked, darkly.

"Who?" Guy was too afraid to say anything, so Lina did instead.

"Vandesdelca Musto Fende. Otherwise known these days as… Van Grants." And Luke's world went into a spiral. Ion, who opted to stand up, looked at them, understanding the Score.

"ND 2002. The one who shall seize glory destroys the island of his birth, a land named Hod. 'The one who shall seize glory' in Ancient Ispanian is... Vandesdelca." He said, as he surveyed everyone's faces, their reaction.

"This is… too hard on me. Tear, are you coming?" Lina said, as she offered the girl (is sixteen called a girl, young lady or woman? I forgot) a hand. She took at and they walked out.

* * *

"Well, that's done and dealt with, do you want to go to Sheridan now?" Luke asked. Guy and Lina shook their head.

"I'm sorry, but I'd like to head to Kaitzur." They gave her confused looks.

"I'd like to inform my other relative from the Kimlascan side that she can do what she wants." The looks she was getting were even worse.

_Flashback_

_Lina sat by the campfire one night. They were on their way to Baticul, for some unknown reason, when she got a pigeon carrier. It had a letter._

_Tilina Feldesca,_

_I'm sorry if you don't know who I am, but I'm your youngest cousin, Jozette. My mother was you mothers younger sister. I need help, since I, well, like Aslan Frings, the Brigadier General of Malkuth. I don't want to tarnish my family's name any further, but I seriously need help on that._

_Jozette Cecille_

"She's in Kaitzur, doing something there. You guys can go to Sheridan ahead of me if you don't want to go. I'll teleport to the Tartarus immediately afterwards." The others took the second option, dropping off Lina and Guy, who wanted to come, at Kaitzur, before leaving. Jade still wore that pendant, which yet, still worked.

* * *

Instead of going to Kaitzur, they dropped them off at Kaitzur Naval Port, since it was where she truly wanted to get off.

"So, who are we going to see?" Guy asked, as he heard the door of the Albiore close. That's when he knew that they were out of earshot (I think that's the phrase…).

"Our cousin. She needs help, so I'm going to help." And they kept walking, occasionally talking about their lives the past few years. Until they reached the 'meeting' room of the whole 'town'.

"I'm going in." And she opened the door, finding herself face to face with a woman, younger than both herself and Guy. She had light blonde hair, possibly easily mistakeable for a silver or white shade. She had dark brown eyes. The three inherited at least one thing from the Cecille family. Jozette, the military love, and the blonde hair. Gailardia, the blonde hair and the caring touch. And Lina, the constant smile and the bad, bad temper.

"Who are you?" Lina smiled, as Guy walked in.

"Hello, Jozette. You may know me as Tilina." And her eyes were wide opened.

"You don't have the blonde hair." She said. Lina laughed as she passed her a photo. A photo of her sister and her late brother. The both had blonde hair.

"I'm the only one in my family to inherit my father's brown hair." And then she looked at Guy.

"As you know me as Tilina Feldesca, This is Gailardia Galan Gardios. Better known as Guy Cecil." Lina introduced him. Despite the look on his face.

"You're the son of Aunt Eugenie? You're the daughter of Aunt Vanilla?" The two nodded.

"You can meet the rest of my siblings later on." Jozette's eyes went wide open.

"You have more siblings?" She asked. Lina smiled.

"The man in that photo is no longer living. He died when he was representing my family at Gailardia's birthday. My sister should be at home. I think you can access it, as long as you have your escort." Her eyes widened and she blushed.

"Guy, can you go? This is girls business." He nodded, silently and walked out.

"You know, if you want me to check, I can talk to Aslan." She shook her head immediately.

"I've heard that your brother was in that spot before he died."

"Yes." And it was silence for awhile, until Lina noticed something.

"… He gave you a ring, didn't he?" Her eyes opened like saucers.

"I hate to admit it, but… yes, he did."

"You can marry him for goodness sake! Gailardia's and my mother, no, our mothers married because they felt loved, not just for the peace treaty. My mother loves my father, and they don't really care about Kimlasca or Malkuth. They didn't care about pride. I could marry a Kimlascan if I wanted to. Your family's reputation won't be tarnished! I'll beg to the King if I have to!" Lina pleaded. Her eyes opened quite wide.

"Y–you will beg?" She stammered out. Lina nodded.

"And the peace treaty's done. You don't have to be ashamed anymore." She fought not to tear out. But they slowly leaked, despite her efforts. Lina smiled and hugged her.

"Just do me a big favour." Jozette nodded.

"Invite me and Gailardia. And my family." And she nodded, smiling. Lina was about to leave, but turned around.

"And thanks for protecting my parents. Could you look after them while they're in Kimlasca?" Jozette yet again, nodded, smiling.

"Thanks." And she left the room. Guy was outside, awing the fon machine that they used for the ships.

"Guy." She poked him, quite hard. That got his attention.

"We're going. Do you want to teleport straight to the Tartarus, or Sheridan?" Guy stood there thinking for a while, and then made up his mind.

"The Tartarus." And she smiled.

"The Tartarus it is." And they disappeared, not knowing what a mess they put themselves in.

* * *

Lina and Guy found themselves in the control room of the Tartarus, when they heard shouts coming from outside. The two looked at each other for a second before rushing, for the exit. But, before Lina left, she got a few items that she knew would be necessary for the… riot caused.

The two found themselves standing on the bridge, they could see a whole army and a few other colours, namely red. Lina cringed immediately, but didn't go… crazy. Guy just stared, until they both heard a sound. A sound that came from the front of the Tartarus. The two ran there, and saw nothing. Guy had let it go, but Lina didn't. She walked up to the most possible hiding spot that she could find and…

"Turbulence!" Casted a spell. A few moments later, something, or rather somebody jumped out. A particular person. Our favourite antagonist (well, mine, if you don't count Asch) wearing a mask!

"Sync!" She growled through gritted teeth. Guy was by far gone, as she walked up to him. He smirked and got up, from his 'stance'.

"You found me. Not surprising, Lina Feldesca, the replica." Lina laughed.

"Replica? Call me a replica? Goodness me. You idiots did fall for it after all. Do you always believe what Spinoza tells you?" Lina said, as she took out her mace. Sync eyes went bug-eyed (though you can't see it, his expression basically said it).

"What?" He exclaimed, but it was too late. Lina had already started to cast.

"Indignation!" Apparently, he didn't hear her mumble the incantation. He just had a little time to partially dodge it. He got hit from the left side of his body to the almost exact middle. He started to kick, punch and do all of those things. Lina managed to dodge half of them, but she well, got angry, and what we call 'overlimit' activated.

"Heat Wave!" She exclaimed when he was pushed back by the sudden light the activation of overlimit caused. He got hit, full on. She smirked as she ran into the fiery breeze and…

"Gale Force!" she shouted as her mace made contact with his head. A sudden wind came from nowhere and pushed him forwards, while at the same time, creating a large blade, made up of air, 'slicing' him. She sighed as she felt the power.

"STARLIGHT EXPLOSION!" And she released the newly named 'Mystic Arte'. He found himself only just living that, by a bit though. And his overlimit activation. Lina gulped.

"Akashic Torment!" Lina found herself under a huge glyph and actually screaming for once, during a battle. She groaned.

"That. Is. So. It." She spat, as she held her mace out, feeling the fonons flow to her mace.

"Tempest Fury!" She exclaimed as she felt the mace to the job. Once he suffered the great light, Lina got the sharpest edge of her mace and…

"Lina!" She turned around temporarily, but then charged at Sync, not knowing who exclaimed her name. The sharpest edge had hit Sync's mask as the Tartarus started to move. It was like that for minutes, as Lina had focused the fonon flow into the mace itself and when they went into the Qliphoth…

The mask cracked.

Revealing his true identity.

His face.

* * *

Me: This doesn't really face the romance part of the story. It's just storyline. Well, if you can count the Aslan and Jozette thing as 'romance' then yeah.

Luke: Aslan and Jozette?

Me: Frings and Cecille.

Luke: Oh.

Tear: I think they look cute (blushes herself to high heaven)

Me: I somewhat agree.

Jade: Yes. An by the way, have you seen Sync?

Me: Yes. I think he was in studio 17, fixing his mask.

Ion: I see.

Florian: Who's Sync?

Sync: Bloody hell, I'm Sync! Sync the Tempest!

Me: Oh dear. I'm getting out of here before I see anymore casualties.

Jade: Anymore?

Me: I don't own ToA. Reviews, please? Bye! (scrams out of studio 13 like a scared black cat!)


	23. Part 23: Sync and Ion's Identity

**Part 23 Sync And Ion's Identity**

His mask fell.

And there were gasps all round.

Lina looked at the figure right in front of her. She feared the worst. She already had suspicions on who this person was. Or rather, who the replica was. The people behind her gasped, apart from Ion and Jade, who fear the worst too.

"As I thought." Ion said. Sync's eyes widened one hundred percent.

"You are Fon Master Ion's replica, aren't you?" Ion and Lina said at the same time. Ion and Sync looked at her, shocked.

"Two years ago, when I was working at the lab, I received one report of almost, what I thought, unimportance. The report contained findings of Fon Master Ion's clothing, and a mass of Seventh Fonons in Mt. Zahelo. We thought it was just a gathering of the Fonons, like how the other Fonons behaved. I never believed this would happen. Not until I saw Ion." Lina said, as she looked in his direction.

"Yes, I am Fon Master Ion's seventh replica. The last one." He said, as they entered the core.

"We were useless. Thrown into the volcano so no one knew." Sync spat. Ion tried to reconcile.

"You're not useless…" He said, trailing off.

"I am. We were thrown out because we went powerful enough. I was spared because I climbed out of the volcano, and Van hid me. He used and is using me." Ion started to tear up. Lina stood there.

"So why are you following his ideals? Is it because the Score foretold the original Ion's death that you were born? That you curse your existence?" he nodded.

"Exactly."

"Then I know how you feel. I felt like a tool. A tool used by Malkuth to gain land." Sync made a retort that made her think.

"So why do you go with the Score? Don't you hate it?" She stood there, thinking.

"Yes, I do. But I cannot curse the Score. It was something that would've been predicted anyways. And think on a global scale. If the Score was gone, what would happen to the people? The people who rely heavily on the Score." Sync eyes were just blank as Ion's tear flowed out.

"We kill them." Was all he said. Lina stood there, emotionless. The rest of the group just stared at the two, as they comforted Ion, who said that he wasn't crying, but really, he was. Unless his tear ducts just leaked.

"So what? Kill me then. Then make a replica of me. I don't care. It would've been predicted without the Score anyways. You blame the Score on something that you created. The path that you chose. You are human. It was something that your original probably asked for. He probably-"

"Shut up!" Sync grunted. Lina wasn't going to back down. She kept talking. No one cared to stop her. Whoops. Reword that. No one DARED to stop her.

"Why must you have humanity so much? Look at Luke here. He's trying his best to live life, like he wants. He being a replica isn't a hindrance to him. You should be the same. The Score is only one possible future. If you'd try, you could change the Score, to something you want to be, not being stuck on shackles."

"Don't pity me!" Lina sighed.

"I do not pity you. What is there to pity for? Just because you think you're a useless replica, doesn't mean it's your future. Did the Score predict your existence? No. The Score predicted his death. His death only. They could've moved on, and had a new Fon Master, instead of doing this. You can change your own future. You can shape it. You don't have to be an arrogant, stuck up bastard. You can be a calm, docile person. It's what you chose, not what the Score chooses." At that point, Sync started to calm down.

"The Score exists as a possibility. Like I said, you don't have to follow your destiny from the Score. You can change anything you want in your destiny, as long as you try." His eyes started to tear up. But he staggered backwards. Lina ran up to him, pushing him forward.

"Take him and heal him. I think he's made up his mind." The group looked at her strangely, but took him nevertheless. He didn't fight back, which was what confused the whole group. Apart from Jade, who took that she had convinced him to stop fighting.

* * *

By the time they got Sync into the Albiore's recovery room, everyone but Natalia (she opted to stay and watch him, with Ion) going back outside. And it took Lina 0.1242 seconds to figure out what Sync had done.

"Sync… you idiot." Luke looked at her, confused.

"What did he do?" He asked, still confused. And then there was the anime fall.

"Sync erased the fonic glyph. Lina, do you think you can fix it?" Jade asked. Lina looked at him, quite unsure.

"Possibly. Let's see…." And she made a ball of fonons, specifically, the first to the sixth. And then she played the game of dot-to-dot, controlling it, tracing a line, or more of a pattern. After she had copied the somewhat complicated pattern, she sat down and sighed.

"I'm checking on Sync. See you later." And she walked away, huffing and puffing.

"I think she's hiding more than she can hide." Guy said, concerned. Jade nodded.

"I'm just as concern as you." The whole group looked at him, surprised.

"Are you joking?" Tear asked, sceptically.

"Maybe."

* * *

"Where… am… I?" Sync said, as he pushed himself off the bed. Ion and Natalia had already left. It was just Lina in the room.

"Stay still." She said, calmly. Sync looked at her, surprised.

"You fainted, so we healed you." His face went into outrage.

"Why the hell did you do that?" She smiled.

"Because, you had already made a decision. It's in your heart. You don't want to be a mere replica. You want to live like a normal person." Sync's angry immediately dissipated.

"I… don't want to be a… pawn." He said, looking at the ground. Lina looked at him sadly, and patted his back, something instincts told him to do. Then she had an idea. It was risky, but to do it, it was possibly worth it.

"Do you want to lose your memories and make new ones?" She asked. Sync looked at her for a little bit.

"Of course, you'll only be losing memories of your time being served in the Order of Lorelei, and that you are Ion's replica." He stared at her, shocked.

"You can do that?" He finally asked. She smiled and scratched her head.

"Yeah, I think so. I've done it before on a little child who had traumatizing memories." He smiled and hugged her surprisingly.

"Ok." And she was dead shocked that he gave in so quickly. The rest of the group walked in by then. They were all shocked that Sync was HUGGING Lina. She laughed, embarrassed.

"Now, if I can perform the ritual." She said, implying something. Jade had gotten it and left. The rest of them followed his lead. She looked at Sync, reassuringly.

"You'll be fine." And she started to glow, placing a hand on his head, feeling the excess of Seventh Fonons flow out of her. She cringed a little bit, but then she was done. She stood up and looked at the boy.

"Sync? Are you alright?" The boy looked up.

"Who are you?" He asked. Lina smiled.

"Mission successful."

* * *

When Jade saw the light disappear he walked in immediately, not knowing what she had did. He was surprised that nothing happened. Well, by looks.

"Sync? Do you know who this is?" Lina asked. He looked at Jade and shook his head.

"No. I have no idea." Jade looked at her confused.

"I erased his memory. Just the part of the Order of Lorelei and the fact that he is Fon Master Ion's replica." She explained. He smiled. Smiled? Police! Jade just committed the crime of smiling.

"Sync, do you want to come with us to save the world?" He looked at Lina, hugging her for dear life. She laughed.

"I'd take that as a yes." And she stood up, looking at the boy.

"Sync?"

"Yes?" He asked.

"Do you want to keep the name Sync?" She asked. Good point. If Lina was to shout 'SYNC!' when versing the God Generals, she would most likely get shot in the head, by Legretta. He nodded.

"I'll be called… umm…" He couldn't find a name.

"You can have a codename instead, then. We call you Sync when we know that we are in a private area, and your codename could be… Gale?" She said, stupidly, remembering his one of his Mystic Artes being 'Harrowing Gale'.

"Yeah, that sounds alright." He said, smiling and nodding.

"Jade, let's go to House Feldesca. I need to get some clothing for Sync. He can't wear these, since they'll notice him immediately. And could you get Ion for me?" She notified/asked/added at the end of the request. He nodded.

"That sounds alright to me." They waited a little while. And then Ion came in.

"Ion." She said, acknowledging him. He smiled and nodded.

"Come here." She asked. He walked, slowly. She laughed.

"Come on, sometime today would be very nice." She said. Ion looked at her, and then Sync, and then walked faster.

"I'm going to leave him in your care. He is to be your missing twin brother who supposedly died when you were born. Make him trust you." She said, before leaving. Ion looked at his … umm… same self smiling.

"Sync, is it?" He asked. Sync nodded.

"I'm Ion, your brother. We're twins, apparently." The two looked at each other for a minute, an hour and then a day… no, no, I'm just exaggerating.

"Bro-ther?" Sync said. Ion smiled and nodded.

"I heard your code name is Gale. But I'll always call you Sync, apart from in battles."

And that's when Lina truly knew that the two had gained each other's trust.

* * *

"Ok, this is Gale. You may call him Sync anywhere, but in front of the Oracle Soldiers. Don't be too scared of him, because he doesn't know you anymore. I have erased the main parts of his memory. He only knows the basically things and basic attacks. He really wants to be friends with you, so don't be too scared, alright?" Lina explained as he lightly pulled the boy to her side.

"If I see any damage dealt to him, you'll be answering to me and my Indignation, is that clear?" All of the sudden Luke started to walk to the boy, patting his head.

"Do you want to practise your skills with me?" Lina smiled. Sync turned around and looked at her, as if he was looking for confirmation. She laughed.

"Silly. I'm not your mother. You can do anything you want." He smiled and ran off, dragging Luke along. The rest of them looked at her, stupefied.

"Why did you do that?" Natalia asked. Lina smiled.

"Because, he can be helpful in the near future, hopefully. I need him to gain Ion's trust though. Or this will never work." She replied, smirking in Jade's direction.

"The Care and Ditch technique? I haven't seen you use that in a while, Lina." She laughed.

"It's because you haven't seen me in a while. I've used it many times as my alter ego, let's just say." And she walked out. But before she did…

"Tell me when we're getting to Grand Chokmah. I'm too tired. Sync's replica Seventh Fonons have drained too many of my ones so yeah." And she truly walked out.

* * *

"Your good, Sync really good." Luke said as he lied down on the floor for a rest. Sync had already calmed down, and well, became a friend to Luke, within half an hour. He wasn't his 'I'm a replica, so kill me' self. He was himself. The self that no one had ever seen. He laughed, smiled, cried and even threw temper tantrums like normal people did.

"You too, Luke." He said, as he huffed a little bit. Since Sync couldn't use swords, they did a fist fight instead, and to his discovery, even though Luke had never used fists as a fighting use, he was pretty good at it. For a first timer, that is.

"Thanks, Sync." The two were disrupted by a knock on the door, in which Lina had walked in. Since there were no windows in the room, they didn't know they had gotten to Grand Chokmah.

"You two, we're there, let's go. Sync, do you know the places in Auldrant?" She still questioned her ability, since that was the second time she had erased someone's memory. Due to that factor, it wasn't certain that she only erased some parts. But, so far, so good, as Sync nodded.

"Then let's get your disguise."

Little did they know that Van didn't know. Or did they? Who knows?

* * *

Me: Ok, this might be turning into an AU now...

Lina: Why the heck did you make me erase Gale's memory.

Van: Gale?

Sync: Who are you?

Lina: Van! What the heck are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the rest of your group, preparing for Easter?

Tear: Easter

Sync: Is cool!

Me: Lina, Gale and Tear, why aren't you in studio 17, where the rest of the group is? This is the villain studio, studio 3.

Sync: She doesn't own ToA. I'd love to talk about her whims about reviews, but I have to scram before I get-

Me: Indignation!

Sync -....toasted.


	24. Part 24: Napped, Kidnapped

**Part 24 Napped, Kidnapped**

After a few hours, they left Grand Chokmah with the renewed Sync, who was wearing white. White, peoples, WHITE! He had a black t-shirt and a white jacket, wearing black shorts that went halfway down his shins, and black boots. Ok, maybe his black obsession wasn't really gone, but at least he was making an effort to wear white.

"Where do we go from here?"

"I don't kn-" And they were cut short, when Luke started to groan in pain. Everyone turned around to face him, as he was holding his head.

"Luke? Are you ok? I'm going to try healing you." Tear said, as she walked closer to Luke. Little did she know that she walked into a trap. She held her hands out, like Luke's hyperresonance and attempted to heal him. And then she started to glow a funny green colour. Luke started to feel better, as he stood up.

"The pain's disappearing." He said, as he released a hand off his head and stood up.

"Luke, my isofon. I can finally speak to you" 'Tear' said. Everyone looked at the one imitating and being puppeteer to Tear.

"Tear… no…" Luke grumbled.

"I am the one your kind calls Lorelei." 'Tear' said, emotionlessly.

"Lorelei, the seventh aggregate sentience truly exists." Jade mused on about Lorelei, after that statement, silently, of course. Lina just looked at her, the information slowly seeping in to her system.

"I am the Seventh Fonon itself. And you, Luke. Your fonon frequency is the same as mine. You and the other you are my perfect isofons. I am you. This is why I ask you of this. Right now, something enormous is absorbing my power. It is shaking the core and causing the Sephiroth to go out of control. Your actions have quieted the core and stabilised the Sephiroth. But as long as I am trapped here…" And the voice stopped, dropping Tear from her floating state, slowly awaking from her unconsciousness. No one said a thing… until.

"We're taking her to Belkend." Lina said, as she picked up the poor girl and carried her to the Albiore. Luke just looked at her, surprised that she reacted a little faster than he did himself.

* * *

It was night time. They could all remember the meeting with the doctor quite clearly. No, actually, quite vividly. Just doesn't have the spark of happiness in there.

_A few hours ago…_

"_We've just checked her vitals and her body." The doctor announced as he walked out. It was an anxious moment, as mainly almost everyone struggled to breathe. Apart from one person, who just stood there, calmly, waiting patiently._

"_So?" Lina asked. The doctor lead the whole group inside. And they did walk in._

"_There is a large amount of Seventh Fonons in her body." Was what the doctor initially started with._

"_So what? That's normal! Tell us what's wrong with her!" Natalia exclaimed. Lina stood up and patted her head. In the instant of when her hand contacted the top of her head, she calmed down. She then looked up, and saw Lina smiling._

"_Just calm down, Natalia. If there's something wrong with her, we first have to find out." She said, as she walked back. Natalia frowned slightly, a little apologetic to the whole group._

"_Ahem… as I was saying. Tear has many contaminated Seventh Fonons in her body. In other words, she has tainted fonons in her body, which is affecting her body quite deeply. I don't have much of a clue where this originated though." And then it clicked in place. Well, in Lina's mind only._

"_That's it! When we went to the Sephiroth, and then the core, she's been absorbing the tainted Seventh Fonons to activate the Sephiroth." She said, explaining her sudden exclamation. The rest of the group nodded._

"_Well, if you keep doing that, I cannot be certain that she'll live. I can give her medication to slowly relieve and make sure the fonons are exterminated from her body, but I cannot assure you that it can get rid of all of them." He said, as he took the bottle of pills for his desk. Luke, who jumped from his sitting position took the bottle and placed it in his pocket, keeping it safe._

_Lina sat there, looking at the doctor, right in the eyes. She knew what to do. And she would do it. No matter what._

Lina sat outside, on the outskirts of Belkend. It was, well, just after sunset. And then she felt a big whack to her head.

And then she blacked out.

* * *

It was a few hours later when the group was worried. Luke started to freak out. Even Jade freaked out, well, a little.

"Where's Lina? I haven't seen her in a while." Luke said, in his 'panicky' tone. Even Jade started to panic a little. She would never stray that far, without giving out a sign or something. So he started to pace around, trying to remember when he last saw her. And then something he was wearing started to glow. An ever so small pendant. The green light embedded the room in a green glow, sucking up everyone. Apart from Tear, who wasn't really around.

* * *

Lina awoke to a small clang. Her head was throbbing, but surprisingly, that was all the pain she felt. She was leaning on a stone wall, which was damp, and the whole place smelt like a dungeon. Well, more like the sewers, but close enough. There were steel bars in front of her, which told her that she was in a prison of some sort. Slowly, she got up, her eyes adjusting to the dark. There, was a bed, a toilet and a sink. She muttered soft curses to herself as she saw on the bed.

And then she heard footsteps coming what sound like, stairs.

"How's our little prisoner doing?" She heard, as she immediately understood the voice. They had taken away her mace and her bag full of goodies. Strangely, they hadn't taken anything else. They being a certain annoying idiot.

Almost like Zagi in Tales of Vesperia.

She went back to her original position, leaning on the wall with her eyes closed, breathing normally. She could feel the presence of the annoying one around her. She smirked slightly as she mumbled an incantation.

"Blessed Drops." And it worked. He, the one who was, and IS annoying, SAT there in all of man's glory drenched, and certainly pissed off. He growled in annoyance, as he smacked her head. But, his hand never met skin, as she kicked his, ahem, now fallen chair. He, who was certainly EXTREMELY pissed off, sent for reinforcements, as he dragged her out of the cell.

And then there was a flash of purple. Which had been emitted from her chest.

She gasped at the sudden loss of fonons, but chuckled once the pain had dissipated as she saw his now illuminated face, turn aghast.

The next line for the 'Dist Revenge Journal'.

Note to my pretty self: Bring prepared reinforcements when kidnapping Optimistic Lina.

* * *

The 'Jade group' as Dist would refer to Luke and co as, appeared right before their eyes. The green light that had embedded Jade and whoever was in the vicinity of Jade, had turned purple before arriving at its destination. Surprisingly, Dist had managed to take Lina all the way to Daath, in the Oracle Headquarter's dungeons, without the others noticing her leave. She stepped back, as Luke walked in front of her, Natalia trailing behind him. She saw Lina and immediately started to utter incantation of 'Heal'. Lina sighed as the pain had dissipated from her head and she looked at Jade pleadingly. He was about to give her a mace, but something happened.

Her tattered gloves started to glow. She looked at them and saw the shape the fonons were making.

Her mace. The Star Crusher. Appeared right before them. She smirked as she started her 'Let's bash Dist up until he can't take the pain no more' plan.

"LIGHTNING BLADE!" She shouted, a blade like lightning looking rod had appeared from right above Dist's head, a glyph appearing below his chair. And then the reinforcements came. But, they were dealt with by Luke, Guy and Anise.

"You want more pain, Dist? As much as you gave me when we were children? Fine. Because, I've seriously had enough of this. I know all you want with me for is to resurrect your beloved teacher, but sadly, she isn't coming back. No matter how hard you try."

Cue Dist growling at her, getting angry at her pure torture.

"Because you were foolhardy, young and naive back then, I DID forgive you. But, seriously. You're getting too ahead of yourself. I give you two words of quite encouraging advice." She grumbled, as she whacked his head with her mace.

"GROW." And she whacked him again.

"UP." And she had uttered the words to her newly loved and famed Mystic Arte, her overlimit activated on an emotional basis. He found himself...

BLASTING OFF AGAIN! (seriously peoples, I didn't really intend for a Pokemon related line in this, but what the heck, it's funny.)

* * *

Lina dusted her hands as she saw the boys, plus Anise, almost done with the reinforcement. I mean, can you imagine how many people Dist is dumb enough to ever bother bringing? Lina stood there, mace in hands, panting as she saw the disfigured bodies of poor Oracle Soldiers who were walking the path to death.

"Let's get out of here and back to Belkend." Was all Lina said, before teleporting everyone outta there.

* * *

She had managed to correctly teleport them to Belkend inn, where Tear was waiting for them. She wore a mad face, until she saw the condition Lina was in, battered clothing with blood stains in them. Her face then went to concern. Lina sat down, each step being wobbly as she attempted to sit correctly, but it was like a mutated drop.

"Lina, are you alright?" Tear asked concerned. Lina flashed a small smile before the smile turned into a 'struggling' wavy mouth movement.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Tear asked again. Jade, who didn't even bother listening for an answer stood up and helped Lina into a comfortable position, something that the whole group was SLIGHTLY shocked at.

"I'm fine. I think I got whacked on the head and probably kicked around. Other than that, I feel like a new person." She said, as she swatted Jade's hand away. She could feel her warm blood gush from her leg, as she swatted him away. Her face cringed. Tear looked around, and saw it.

The blood.

She fretted over it and even got Natalia to help her attended to her wound.

As she saw her own blood pool on the floor, she cringed, not at the pain, but the sight of it near her. Her own blood.

Blood that she feared.

At that moment, she didn't know what was happening anymore. She went into a state of almost permanent chaos. She started to jerk around like a little child. Both Guy and Jade saw this, but only one acting correctly. That was Guy. He walked over to her slowly grabbing an arm and trying to send telepathic messages to her. Well, that didn't really work to well, as she still jerked around.

Jade? Well, I didn't say he didn't do nothing. He didn't act right.

He walked up to her, kind of quickly, as he saw that she didn't feel comfortable seeing blood pooling underneath her feet. Before he walked up to her, he got a clean rag and wiped up the blood. It left a small red streak, but other than that, it was fine. He then stood up, seeing her reactions slow down a slight bit. But then, as soon as he wiped one, another one appeared. Though he didn't notice until he saw her jerk more.

He sighed as she walked, yet again, kind of quickly up to her and...

He tripped.

On Tear's staff.

Being him, he didn't flail like a normal person would. But where, and how he landed wasn't how a normal person land.

He landed on Lina, sitting on her lap. Because her head was on the arm of the armchair she was sitting on, his head landed right next to her's.

The only exception being, that he ended up kissing her. Her eyes widened heaps, as she calmed down. As he saw that she calmed down, he continued to...uhhh... molest her? Well, whatever he did, she calmed down.

She opened her originally closed eyes to find herself facing a few shocked faces.

And one which clearly said.

'Explain, now, cousin.'

* * *

Me: Yes, yes. It's me. I'm not dead. I just had to wait a few days for a new comp. Since my old one died on me right in the middle of me writing this chapter. So I said 'Stuff it. I'll wait a few days to write the next chapter' And I discover that my mum managed to save it and so I continued on from it.

Tear: Nice story.

Lina: But it's what happened, since you were crying.

Me: WHAT? Don't tell me I left my sketchbook opened.

Lina: Yes, you did.

Me: Well, be happy that I finally updated. And added a romance scene.

Jade: Yes, I think you for that.

Me: I probably should scram to studio 13 now, to check that the villains haven't killed any props yet.

Sync: Fine. She doesn't own anything. Welcome back reviews, please?

Me: FINALLY! You use the word 'please' after a week of torturing you, since I couldn't draw you properly.

Sync: Yes.


	25. Part 25: This Sephiroth, That Sephiroth

**Part 25 This Sephiroth, That Sephiroth**

Lina's head shot up immediately, her face all red. She spluttered as Tear and Natalia had finished dealing with her one wound. She had no idea what the heck had happened. She took one good look at her surroundings, noticing that she was still in Belkend's inn. At that instant, she took out her arms, holding them out. And then her mace appeared.

And that's when everyone panicked.

She weakly passed it to Tear, who took it with care.

"Use ...that. It's a fonon amplifier..." She said, weakly. The whole group, excluding Jade, who had no idea what the heck he did, stared at the staff dumbly, wondering the same thing.

How the heck did she get that from?

And then Luke remembered something. Jade's spear came out the same way. And then Guy remembered something. It was like telepathy. Guy had vaguely seen Lina force the fonons down her spear. Vaguely. He wasn't sure that really happened, but the evidence placed in front of him was conclusive enough to tell him the truth.

Tear didn't know what to say, but used the staff (mace) and used Heal. Surprisingly, it healed all of her wounds in one go. Natalia wondered why Lina didn't give it to her, but then she remembered three major factors.

One, she couldn't use a mace.

Two, Lina probably wouldn't trust her.

Three, Tear was technically her master, being Yulia's descendant.

Lina fell asleep, not knowing what was going on. So Tear left her mace beside her, leaving her at peace. She couldn't see, but there was a slight smile on her face, although it was red, due to the blush of embarrassment she had just suffered. Guy was confused, but decided to leave her alone, along with the rest of the group, Luke the only one left to carry her, and her mace back to her allocated room.

* * *

Lina awoke in her tattered and battered clothing. In her bed. It looked like it was about ten in the morning. She was quite surprised that no one woke her up yet. She found her mace placed gently on her table, which she stood up and picked up. The blood in her clothes was still evident, as was the grime in it. She walked to where her backpack was placed, where there were a new lot of everything. Well, apart from the gloves, but her gloves has served as her new mace holder, so she really couldn't do much about them.

"Well, I think we were on our way to the rest of the Sephiroths." She mumbled to herself, as she put on the spare clothing she had.

Once she had changed, she left the room to find herself facing the whole group, who were eating breakfast.

"Well, well. Someone slept in today." Said our favourite sarcastic old man.

"Well, if you were bashed up to the oblivion and back, I'd think you'd sleep in too." She retorted back, glaring at the back of his head.

"And Tear, thanks for healing me." She said, smiling in her direction quickly before glaring at the back of Jade's head again.

"No problems. It's my job, isn't it?" She said, laughing slightly. Lina cocked a brow at her before, yet again, glaring at the back of Jade's head.

"Well, anyways. If we're lowering the Sephiroth, which one is first?" Lina asked, cheerfully. But no one answered. She sighed and placed her hands up in a surrender type of way.

"...Let me guess, this silence has something to do with yesterday?" She asked, her gloomy voice returning.

"Yes, Lina. We want an explanation. And fast." Lina sighed.

"Do I have an explanation? Interrogate the man who did it first, before interrogating the victim." She replied, smoothly without any slip ups, which was something that she had expected from that mouth of hers.

"Well, Jade. Do you have anything to say?"

"I tripped. So, I'm going to say whatever happened was an accident." He replied back, as he sipped his coffee, 'cause all old people drink coffee.

"Well, you can't really blame me all that much. I had no idea what was going on. I just ended up calming down." She said. Guy nodded.

"Well, that was what kind of happened." Tear said, smiling at Lina sadly.

"He did trip on my staff. I just don't know how he landed like that."

"Well, we'll find out eventually. But for now, where are we going first?"

"The first one we're going to is..." Natalia started but never finished because she had too forgotten the location of the next Sephiroth they were going to.

"Meggiora Highlands." Was all Tear said.

* * *

They were walking down the windy path. The windy path to their certain boredom. It was quite warm, and humid, two things that you didn't want combined. Lina sighed for the twelfth hundred billionth time that afternoon. Yes, she was quite used to the weather, by far, but she just wasn't in a good mood. She wasn't in much of a good mood since the morning. If not for the presence of a certain someone, she would be the normal, jumpy and somewhat intelligent person she normally is. And then she found herself facing the sealed door.

"So this is it?" She said, pointing at the familiar looking door. Ion and Sync nodded.

"Yes, this is it. Thank you for your patience, Duchess." Ion said. Lina stood there, looking at him with a cocked brow, confused. Anise snickered, but Jade made the comment that annoyed her too far.

"Yes, Lina, your patience is quite loved around here." She stood there, took a deep breath, and then...

THREATENED HIM!

"Would you like me to spill all of your secrets to everyone here? I'm pretty sure they'll pay for good money. And Peony would love to see the reaction of everyone here." She growled, through gritted teeth. Everyone around her flinched, as they could feel the anger flowing out of her body. And the coldness in her words. And how much venom was in it.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind." He replied back, laughing. That was the total last straw for Lina.

"Blessed Drops." She muttered, drenching him. She turned around, her usual bubbly green eyes now slitted, looking like a snake.

"Next will be Starlight Explosion. You guys can deal with this. I'll be waiting in Tataroo Valley's Sephiroth. I can't handle the pressure you guys are exerting anymore." And she was gone. Just like that.

And all Jade did was dry himself before telling Sync to open the door.

* * *

In fact, Lina never went to Tataroo Valley. She ended up going to Keterburg. She never liked the place, so she never knew why she was there. But that place did have her best memories. The memories of her childhood. The memories of her brother. The memories of her friends. The memories of herself. It was the place where she wanted to be by herself. And the best place was her old house.

And that's where she went.

Her belongings were still in that house of hers. It wasn't empty. All of her toys, clothes, all of her pictures. She laughed to herself as she sat down on the seat, before breaking down.

* * *

"So, we're done here, where are we to go next?" Luke asked, as he helped Tear out of the place. She was quite out of breath as the miasma entered her body, like the theory had said.

"To Tataroo Valley, of course! Lina's waiting there!" Anise exclaimed. Jade laughed.

"She's not in Tataroo Valley." He said. The group looked at him with curiosity.

"Why wouldn't she be there?" Guy asked. Jade laughed again.

"She's tricking you. It's the last place she'll be. The first would be Grand Chokmah, the second would be Keterburg, the next would be Baticul, the next would be Chesedonia, and then, well, you get the picture. The last place she'll be is Tataroo Valley." Jade explained quickly, as he sighed. He already knew he had annoyed and pissed her off too far. Guy nodded.

"Well, that certainly sounds like her. But where would she be...?" He asked no one in particular. Strangely, someone other than Jade answered that.

"She's probably in Keterburg." And they all turned to Sync. They were all confused on how he knew.

"Gale, exactly how do you know?" Luke asked. He nodded and smiled.

"Easy. She told me. If I'm emotional, I'd go to Keterburg, if I'm happy, I'd go to Grand Chokmah, if I felt proud, I'd go to Baticul and if I felt worried, I'd go to Chesedonia." He said, quoting her. The rest of the group nodded in understanding.

"I see. I wonder why she told S-Gale though." Natalia said, thinking, as they walked back to the Albiore. Half the people in the group still weren't used to saying 'Gale', usually saying 'Sync' and then correct themselves, or stop halfway through their sentence.

* * *

Lina was still in Keterburg. Her mind went all hazy. It wasn't very lady like for her, but she really didn't give at the time. That was one thing she couldn't handle. Pressure. She used to, but ever since that dreadful day, she could never handle it again. It sent her into an emotional wave. But she did overcome it. Somehow, by overriding her feelings with work. Mathematical equations, that stuff.

"So, if two things have the same fono-" She was at the end of her theory when she heard a familiar sound. Well, squeaky voice that sounded more like a sound, well, you'll get it.

"Master, Master! She's here!" The squeaky voice that sounds more like a girl spoke. She took bunches of paper she was writing on that she had and placed them on the desk before playing dead.

"Lina?" She heard. The voice was quite familiar. But she couldn't point a finger on it since she was drifting.

"Lina?" Drifting.

"Li..na?" Drifting.

"L...i..na?" Drifting.

Drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The group found Lina lying on the floor, asleep. That wasn't how they thought she'd be, but docile was better than savage. As Luke helped Guy help her off the floor, Jade was interested in the pile of papers on the coffee desk. They didn't look battered. Actually, they didn't even look old. And there wasn't dust on it.

So it told him three things.

Lina had something to do with them.

Lina wrote on them.

Lina tried to cover it.

He sighed and took the pile of papers, which were about ten or twenty sheets of paper loosely in a pile, and held onto them, etching a note to self in his brain.

And the next place they ended up going to was Tataroo Valley, ironically.

* * *

They managed to get to Tataroo Valley still in the afternoon. One person had to stay behind, due to Lina's uhhh.... sleep needs. And of course, that person wasn't going to be Jade. One, Jade had to be there, and two, if he was to stay, Lina would blast him to the oblivion and back, most certainly. And then there's Luke. He couldn't stay behind either, because he was the main guy, and whatever, well you get the picture. And then Tear. They would've love to have Tear stay behind and rest, but she couldn't. One, she wouldn't and two, she couldn't.

So out of the whole group, the only people that couldn't stay behind were Luke, Tear and Jade. And there were most likely going to do this all over again, for Shurrey Hill and the Zao Ruins.

So, out of Anise, Guy, Natalia, Ion and Sync (aka Gale, they had to choose one person to stay behind with Noelle. If Ion was to stay behind, another person had to. And he wasn't particularly feeling too well, so he decided to stay behind. Out of everyone, Natalia would've been in a bad situation if she stayed behind, so after a fifteen minute debate, it was chosen that Anise was to stay behind.

Once everyone left, Anise started to talk to Ion about a few random things. You know, just stuff on the Order of Lorelei, and an explanation on Jade's plans of lowering the Outer Lands as, well as Lina pointed out, a lid on the miasma.

And then the zombie awoke saying 'I want brains!' ...actually, no. Lina had awoken, finding herself in a seat aboard the Albiore. Not the place she fell asleep in.

"Huh? What's going on...?" She grumbled as she forced her eyes to open. Beside her was Anise, who was playing with the small Tokunaga, while Ion was asleep. Noelle wasn't on board, presumably doing maintenance.

"Anise?" She asked. The girl herself jumped a bit at her question.

"Oh, Lina. You're awake." Anise said, cheerfully. She nodded, giving her the look of 'please explain where we are'

"We're in Tataroo Valley." She said, as she heard the door to the Albiore open. The two turned around and face Noelle, who was about to shout something, but when she saw the sleeping face of Ion, closed her mouth.

"They're back." She whispered. Lina nodded and walked towards her. She wasn't really walking towards her though. She was walking towards the door.

* * *

In a period of two days, they had been to Shurrey Hill and Zao Ruins, including the Meggiora Highlands and Tataroo Valley. They were currently all in Keterburg. Due to a snowstorm, they couldn't leave, so they stayed the night.

"I'm soo sorry. I can't fly in this snowstorm, and I also need to do maintenance to see if the Albiore is right to go after." Noelle said apologetically. Lina smiled.

"It's fine. I mean, if we can't get there, chances are Van can't either." She said, making something up in her head. Tear was quiet. So was Luke. Those two quiet was quite unusual. Though they couldn't do much about it. So Lina asked a question go get their attention.

"So, what are you guys going to do after we're done?" And since I'm evil, I'm gonna make you guess.

"I'm going back to Baticul."

"Me? I don't know. I'll probably go back with you."

"Where else am I going? Daath of course!"

"Same here."

"Due to my job, I'm going back to Grand Chokmah."

"I'm going to go to see Grandfather in Yulia City."

"Where else? I have a job to do, you know, in Baticul."

"I don't know."

At the last response, Lina laughed.

"Oh, for that one, you're coming back with me. Normally, Daath would be safe, but due to Ion already there, you won't be going back with him. Though I could help you see him, so you two can keep in touch."

Sync nodded, and so did Ion.

Tomorrow was the battle.

Against Van.

Well, not really. They were going to go to Mt. Roneal. They just couldn't, because of the snowstorm. But close enough.

* * *

Me: Yay! We're halfway! Well, not really. I meant near the end of this part. But, never fear, the next part will be extravagantly long!

Replica Me: And we both agree that she's slow~!

Me: HEY! Who the hell created a replica of me?

Jade: Not me.

Me: Who else could it be?

Jade: Van?

Me: Well, he's with the Vesperia crew, complaining to Raven about his costume.

Jade: Uh... Spinoza?

Me: He died.

(poof) Yuri: She doesn't own anything. And because Raven said the one for the Vesperia disclaimer, this is why I'm here.

(poof) Estelle: Please, review.

Me: Hey! You two, go back!

Yuri: No.

Estelle: They're fighting in there. We don't want to get hurt.

Jade: That means that the...

Me: Oh hell, they're coming. Bye.


	26. Part 26: One Sephiroth To Play With?

**Part 26 One Sephiroth to Play With?**

It was midnight, and one person wasn't asleep yet. The snowstorm had died down, but the chills were worse than any other normal night. Though that one person braved the chills and sat outside, on the roof of the hotel, specifically. She just couldn't sleep. It was just too hard for her.

"Can't sleep?" She heard behind her. She looked up and saw Tear, who stood behind her. Everyone was on edge about Tear's health. They knew the dangers, but they didn't know what could possibly happen. They didn't know what would happen if something was to go wrong. But that's for the next part.

"Yeah, same for you?" Lina asked, as she replied. Tear sat down beside her, watching the small snowdrops drop beside and on her.

"Yeah. I mean, tomorrow we'll go to Mt. Roneal. And then we fight..." She couldn't go any longer. The moonlight had reflected on her face well enough for Lina to be able to see the tears slowly roll down her face. So, she decided to change subject.

"Anyways, how did you get up here?" She asked as she lay down on the cold tiles behind her. Tear laughed a little.

"I found a mysterious flight of stairs opened, which looked like it connected from the attic." She managed to giggle out. Lina sighed.

"Well, there goes my secret entrance... all because of my forgetful self." She mumbled, going a little sigh at the end of her sentence.

"Well, I think I'm going to bed. Thanks for the talk, Lina." Tear said before leaving. Lina smiled before waving and looking at the sky.

"Talk about close calls." She said as she sighed, yet again.

* * *

It was morning and everyone was walking outside of the hotel (inn, whatever). It's just they weren't together. Lina had already left to Grand Chokmah very early in the morning. There were just a few slight small things she had to attend to, so the rest took walks around the city, looking for supplies, especially the Holy Bottles.

"Back so soon?" A voice spoke behind her. She flinched, her body jumping at least a few inches back. She turned around to be faced by a pair of red eyes.

"Yes, yes. Peony just wanted me to sign a few forms and do a few small errands. Though I'm done." She said, with a slight yawn. Jade looked at her, curiously.

"A few errands?" He asked. She looked at him, with her eyebrow up.

"Are you suggesting that I'm being suggestive? All he wanted me to do was talk to the returning maids at your manor. Since Nephry would've... ahem, let's see if I've got this right."

"Got what right?" He asked, skeptically.

"She said that she would 'blast him to Mt. Roneal and back, then to the fon belt and back with the use of a knight's spear and a document folder if he flirted with a maid'. Well, that's what I heard." She said, smiling a little. He laughed.

"That sounds like her. Well, I'm going to grab the others and we can go." He said. But before he left, someone had grabbed his arm. He looked down a little.

"They're at the inn. I saw them there when I returned. They told me to go get you and then we could leave." She said. Jade smirked.

"It's just like them." He said, as the two walked back, Lina punching him playfully at one sentence.

'You act just like a fourteen year old.'

* * *

"So, we're almost done, right? Just one more Sephiroth, and then we fight Van to stop his plans..." Ion said as they walked the cold streets of Keterburg.

"Are you alright, Ion?" Lina asked. She saw him shivering in the cold. He smiled.

"I'm fine." He replied back as he fought the shivering feeling. He sighed and took out something for her bag. Two cloaks.

"Here, take one." She said. Everyone apart from Lina was wearing cloaks. It was because Lina was too used to the cold, that she didn't feel the need to wear one. And she carried another, just in case.

"Are you sure?" Ion asked. Sync gave her the same look. She smiled and nodded, handing the two cloaks, one each.

"Thanks, Lina!" Sync exclaimed.

"I thank you, Duchess." Ion replied, as he put it on.

"Oh, darn! Where did all of the other God Generals go? They leave me here while they skip off to Mt. Roneal!" Everyone, literally everyone sweatdropped. There was everyone's favourite boaster FLOATING right in front of them.

"Well, Colonel, that's your job right there! Good luck." Anise said, patting his back. He looked at Lina, who was already glaring holes at the back of his chair. He didn't have to do anything.

"STARLIGHT EXPLOSION!" She shouted, the spell working at it was supposed to. Dist sat on his now burnt (and absolutely screwed up) chair.

"Lina... what a huge surprise..." He grumbled. But it was far too late. The whole group wasn't there. It was as if it was an illusion. And then Jade appeared, just appearing to be leisurely walking around town.

"Jade!" He shouted, as if he was his savior. Jade turned to face him, and walked up to him.

"Oh, hello Dist. Mind if we talk over there?" He asked as he pointed to the back alley. Dist nodded quite enthusiastically, which would've freaked out the average person. The two walked there, Lina standing in Jade's shadow.

And then all of the sudden.

There were explosions. The group came out of their hiding spots and all sweat dropped.

"Oh dear… I wonder who's causing what pain."

* * *

"Well, from what you heard, the God Generals are at Mt. Roneal. Every single one but Asch, apparently." Jade said, while pushing up his glasses. All he did was get the information out of him, the arresting and the pain causing was on Lina, who had already taken him to Grand Chokmah for further processes into jail.

And then Lina popped back, with two people behind her.

"Hey, Lina welcome- huh? Emperor Peony?" Everyone screeched. She flinched and looked at the group sadly.

"…There's a play for the children today. Sadly, the performers all caught a cold and can't do anything. So… Peony begged me to get us to do so…" She mumbled. But due to the desolate surroundings, they could all hear her. The rest of the group, apart from Jade, smiled. Well, Jade smirked, but it was the same thing anyways.

"Well, I'm here on costume duty, so I'll take my leave. And remember what I told you, dear." Nephry said, winking at the specific person before walking away. Lina stifled her laughs as she remembered the exact words that Nephry had told Peony before she left earlier that morning. And everyone else looked at her, as if she was crazy, except for the extremely passive one.

"So, naturally, I'm the antagonist?" Jade asked as he showed off the dark aura that he controlled. Peony smiled, as everyone shivered in fear.

"Well, I'd like to let you but… we need an Abyss Blue replacement…. Wait, that kid next to the Fon Master and play him, right?" Peony asked, as an idea struck him. Sync nodded enthusiastically. He was told of him, but never considered calling him his codename. And Sync didn't really mind being called random names. He was just as considerate as Ion.

"Well, then it's settled." Lina had stopped laughing and asked her the question that she feared that she knew the answer to.

"What am I to do?"

"Lina, dearest cousin, you are the damsel in distress." He replied before walking in the direction of the local theatre. Lina sighed, as she looked at the ground. And then she looked up.

"I knew it. I knew it. I knew it." Were all the words she kept repeating, as she looked at his retreating form. 'I knew it' meant that she was going to…

* * *

"I'm Abyss Red?" Luke asked. Tear was Abyss Black, Natalia was Abyss Green, Guy was Abyss Orange, Sync was Abyss Blue and Anise was Abyss Pink. They all had their costumes on. They could all hear the children talk, and laugh. Jade had his Evil Fonist costume on. And Lina?

She refused to let anyone see her.

Well that was until Anise used Tokunaga to force the door open (by breaking it into a few pieces, by the way), where everyone walked in.

Lina wore a small tiara and a light blue dress, with white-. Ok, picture an English maid clothing. She was wearing something like that, with a tiara, except the dress was a light blue, with white frills. Though her hands were tied up, loosely of course.

"Lina, you look soo cute!" Anise shouted. Lina's face started to burn, literally. She stood up and walked out of the room she was staying in, trying not to bump into many people.

Sadly, she did.

But that's another story.

* * *

"Hello kids! It's time for today's edition of… uhhh.."

"What's this say, desu no?" Mieu asked. The audience of kids laughed. Luke sighed as he told him what to say.

"Abyssman! Today, they verse the…" But before he could finish, the Evil Fonist laughed loudly.

"Sorry, children, but Abyssman won't be on stage today!" And then in walked the Evil Fonist, with his captive, aka Lina. She was muzzled, so she couldn't talk, and her hands were tied together, so she couldn't have her hands.

"Abyssman! Abyssman! Abyssman!" The children chanted in a mixed fear and happiness.

"Whoa… he fits the role quite well." Luke breathed out, waiting for the opportunity to go on stage.

* * *

After a little bit of shouting from Jade (aka Evil Fonist), the crowd went crazy shouting 'Abyssman!' So Luke finally decided to go on stage.

And here comes the triumphant music!

"Evil Fonist! You won't… you won't win!" He shouted, making up the last few words. He had entirely forgotten the whole script. Everyone sighed, getting the message immediately.

"Abyssman… so you've come." He said. Lina, as per the script, didn't say anything, but squirmed, fakely of course. And then everyone did their poses, as per the script, yet again.

"The crimson flame is a sacred light! ABYSS RED!!!" Luke shouted, as the audience cheered them on.

"The black melody that resounds through the dark night! Abyss Black!" Tear shouted.

"The orange wings that fly through the sky! Abyss Orange!" Guy shouted, with just the tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"The blue water which flows, with the calm ocean! Abyss Blue!" Sync shouted. The Evil Fonist, who everyone didn't notice, sighed a little, as he really didn't want to say it.

"The green eyes that reflect love and kindness! Abyss Green!" Natalia shouted.

"Wo-wo-wo-wondeeeer! P-p-p-piiiink! Abyss PINK!" Anise shouted, as if she was like someone from a random action hero movie. As if sound effects weren't good enough.

"What was that, Anise?" Abyss Red whispered.

"Energy Blast!" Jade, I mean, the Evil Fonist shouted. They looked at him, confused. Well, Anise looked at him angry. Lina's face had flinched slightly, as her face scrunched up in some sort of half disgust, half confusion.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just got annoyed!" He shouted. Abyss Pink pulled Tokunaga off her back.

"Stone Dragon Ascent!" She shouted, once Tokunaga had reacted to her fonon signature. And then that's when the group exclaimed in fear. And the audience (basically full of children) did too.

"Go Anise!" Ion shouted. But he noticed something.

"…Emperor? You're stage is being destroyed."

"Oh well." He said, laughing, along with Nephry, who was just laughing at Lina's squirming.

What she and the rest of the group didn't notice was the…

Tape came off.

* * *

"Astral Rain!" Abyss Green (aka Natalia) shouted as the Evil Fonist (aka Jade) casted a Sonic Spear directly at her. The captive (aka Lina) had enough. She wasn't going to watch this go on.

"Absolute!" She shouted. Everyone, including the audience looked at her in fear. The Evil Fonist was wondering how the tape came off. The Abyssman crew were wondering how the rope came off her hands. Everyone else was just shocked that she could cast spells, and resort to violence.

"INDIGNAT-" The Evil Fonist was about to complete, but…

"STARLIGHT EXPLOSION!" …The captive got to it first.

And the whole stage was destroyed in the end.

The moral of this play: The captive always does the most damage.

Well, majority of the time.

* * *

Me: I'm tired.

Yuri: Of course you are, nimwit.

Luke: What he said.

Me: Well... hang on... what the hell are you doing here, Yuri?

Yuri: I dunno.

Me: Urgh... whatever.

Yuri: She soo doesn't own ToA. Or ToV for that matter, as much as she wishes to own both. Reviews for the sake of Tales of the Abyss-man!, which she also doesn't own.


	27. Part 27: You Know, Food Can Kill!

**Part 27 You Know, Food Can Kill!**

"You really had to do that, Lina?" Luke asked, as he got up.

They had just woken up from their… performance, which had a somewhat abrupt end. Lina sighed, as she dusted the dress she wore. The theatre was empty, the children had ran away during the performance, and the backstage crew walked out the back door, the moment they heard incantations.

"You guys wouldn't stop, so the only way to stop you guys was to blow the place up. I casted a barrier before I did, so the children were fine." She replied as she pointed to Jade, the main person to start the whole incident. He laughed.

"As long as the children were happy, who cares?" He said, not saying the last part. The last part was said by Peony as he walked by them, handing each person a pamphlet.

"Abyssman vs. Evil Fonist vs. Captive?" Everyone read aloud. And then Lina beat him to a pulp.

Well, not really. Just a few verbal insults, a few punches, and maybe a few fonic artes… and a Seventh Fonist later…

He was back to normal!

And all Nephry could do was laugh as she watched her best friend beat the heck out of her husband.

* * *

Everyone stood near the exit to Keterburg, the north specifically. It had progressively gotten colder over the hour they spent in the warm confinements of the theatre.

"So this is the only way to Mt. Roneal?" Natalia asked, having no idea on the Malkuthian topography. Lina laughed slightly as the others nodded.

"Guy, care to explain your holiday destinations?" Jade asked, pushing his glasses up. If you looked carefully, there was a sparkle in his eye, but it was hard to see. Guy sighed.

"Didn't you figure out that that was a lie?" He asked, facepalming. So, since Guy was out of the action, indirectly disagreeing, Lina decided to take over.

"The topography of this land is difficult, and around the town is a mass surrounding of trees, like two forests. Since they are almost impossible to go through, it is better to go through civilization than to go without seeing it for a long time. Right, Luke?" She asked, throwing the question at a random person.

Luke was currently in a heated conversation with Ion and Sync, talking about how they could get Sync bracers, instead of making him fight, his fists bruising.

"Luke?" Jade asked, trying to emphasis her point. Luke turned around, his face all confused.

"Huh? What's going on?" He asked, as if he had just woken up from a sleep, in other words, in a half asleep, half awake state.

"Nothing. Keep talking about your interesting conversation with Sync and Ion." Natalia said, slightly laughing, trying to cover up the awkward looking conversation.

* * *

"Who's in charge of dinner today?" Anise asked. Everyone had stopped walking awhile ago, as they found themselves in a cavern at sunset.

"I think Natalia is." Mieu squeaked out. Natalia smiled as she stood up. But Lina got to it first. One, she was in no mood to eat such horrible cooking, two, she didn't want to help people at that moment.

"Natalia, I don't think you need to cook. Anyways, you look very tired. Why don't you go rest, and then you can eat once you wake?" She offered politely, taking the utensils out of Luke's bag. But Natalia got to that first.

"No, no, no. It's fine, really." She said, taking the bag out of her hands. Lina sighed as she sat back down, and whispered to Anise.

"Try not to eat it. I'll cook something later on, a few hours after Natalia's asleep."

Anise nodded, gloomily at the fact that she had to wait. But then she heard a few more words come out of her mouth, and right into her own ear.

"If you're patient enough, I'll make you some chiffon cake too."

At that Anise nodded enthusiastically. So they had their plans. Since Luke, Jade, Guy, Tear and Sync were all on meat and herb and whatever else duty, Lina got out a pen from her bag and a piece of paper, walking outside. Anise and Ion were talking, like normal.

Lina had walked outside, since it was the only place she could do something as risky as she wanted to. On the wall of the cavern, she had started to write something on the piece of paper, to make sure that the message was kept secretive.

And on cue, there was already someone behind her.

"Oh? What exactly are you doing, Lina?" The person asked. Lina jumped a little before turning around. When she noticed the face, she sighed and wiped her brow, as an expression, not something she was going to do.

"You scared the heck out of me, Jade." She replied, handing him the piece of paper. And a pen, let's not forget the pen. And on that piece of paper were just a couple of lines full of information.

_Go back and get me some more stuff._

_Natalia's cooking._

_If you go, I promise I'll make you something extra._

_Luke-_

_Tear-_

_Guy-_

_Jade-_

_Anise- Chiffon Cake_

_Ion-_

_Sync-_

Jade laughed at the piece of paper as he walked to the same wall, and managed to write what he had wanted. And then Luke, Guy, Tear and Sync came. And then they left getting the message. And then Ion finally got the message to go outside. By the time this was all done, the sheet was filled with what everyone wanted.

* * *

After they had suffered of what was supposed to be cream stew and seafood pasta (even though it was more like a horrible soup, and a horrible pasta), as Lina had suspected, Natalia went to sleep instantly. She knew that she was pushing herself too much, causing her tiredness.

"So, shall we really eat?" Lina asked, as they walked outside. They didn't want to risk it, so they had decided to eat out in the stars, just in case Natalia could hear them, or see them, or in a way, smell them.

And Luke didn't complain, nor need to be resurrected by Tear, about Natalia's food.

* * *

"So, Natalia's still not awake yet…" Guy said. It was just dawn, and everyone but the former were up. Lina's breakfast duty was relieved by Tear, who decided to do it, due to the fact that she had done their… replacement dinner. And, in Lina's opinion, she really didn't like doing breakfast. Why? I-no, nobody knows.

Everyone was standing outside, waiting for Natalia. Lina still hadn't come out either, but that was for a different reason. She was packing up Natalia's things. Eventually, she walked out, just when it started to snow, a little, ironically, in a way.

"I'm afraid Natalia will not be coming with us." She said, as she looked at Luke.

Everyone gave her confused faces. She pointed to the cavern and nodded, basically telling everyone to go inside. And everyone did walk inside, and found Natalia sitting on the ground, surrounded by tissues. Her face was red, and her breathing was rough.

"She caught a fever last night." Lina concluded, as the rest looked at her. Jade sighed. He turned around to the cavern's opening.

"We can't take her with us now." He said, pushing his glasses up. Lina walked up to her, offering Natalia another cloak. She tried to stand up, but she fell, face first. Lina kneeled down and sighed.

"I'll be taking her to Baticul. I will join everyone, well, you know where, Jade." She said, sighing. Jade's glasses had reflected the random rays of the sun towards the dark cavern, as he nodded.

"Then I will meet you there."

And she and the now unconscious body of Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear were gone, just in a shine of light.

* * *

"And we go right at this tree…"

The group ventured a little further, under Jade's instructions. He was usually calm and, at some times, arrogant, but here, he was, at times the exact opposite. In his voice, they could all tell that he didn't want to go where Lina had decided to meet them.

And when they did see her, they knew why.

The place was isolated, the back of the mountain as one wall, and the circular curve of the trees making the place shaped like a semicircle. And if you looked carefully, there was a small door, which looked like it needed a code to get in, but that was covered in snow, and camouflaged with the white wall.

"It took you long enough, Jade." She shouted. The rest of the group stopped walking as they saw that she had something, or rather someone else behind her. Blonde hair, green eyes, winter dress, sword and smile.

"Realai?" Luke asked. The said nodded.

"Hey." Was all she said, when she felt someone grab abdomen. She looked down and found herself looking a tuff of green hair.

"Uhh… do you mind explaining?" She asked, as she tried to pry the boy off her. It was like this before, when Sync had gotten some new clothing. It was like one positive, and one negative magnet near each other.

"Well… I don't have much of an explanation for that…" Lina muttered as she pulled Sync off her. The boy pulled off the perfect pout.

"Gale, don't. Hugging my sister can wait when I get you back to my place, alright?" She asked, smiling. Sync flashed a huge grin, a v sign and a small wink towards her. She laughed.

"Can you explain why Realai is here, Lina?" Guy asked, as he pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on.

"I was in Baticul doing my duty, when I saw Lina carrying Princess Natalia to her room. So, I asked the King if I could go in her place, and he agreed. So, I'm here replacing Natalia." She said, shrugging.

"Exactly what 'duty'?" Jade asked.

"The duty as a knight for Kimlasca."

"WHAT?" About three of the group shouted. The three being Luke, Guy and Tear.

"Due to the fact that my mother was a well known Kimlascan soldier, it was said that her offspring would also become soldiers. So, recently, I got offered the job of Brigadier General, since Jozette was promoted to a General, quite recently." She explained as she looked at Lina. She sighed, as the others looked at her.

"I too, was a soldier. Well, not really, since I was too young at the time. I was in the intelligence division, my highest rank as Sergeant, before I left Malkuth forces, before the Hod War." Lina explained. The rest of the group looked at her if she was stupid.

"Then why didn't I see you? I was in the intelligence division too, before my transfer." Jade said. She looked at him, exasperated.

"You have seen me. The young girl with brown locks, normally wearing pig tails, and a standard uniform, except in the colour of pink?" She breathed out, in an exasperated tone.

And then they heard footsteps coming in their direction.

"We've found you!" They all heard, turning around to face none other than their worst enemy.

The Oracle Knights.

"Well, I'm afraid that this conversation has to end- Blessed Drops!" Jade said/chanted as he saw three Oracle soldiers come in his direction. Ironically, this was the time when it stopped snowing lightly, and started to snow heavily.

* * *

"Tear, do you still want to fight for this Score ridden world?" Legretta shouted.

They had ran out of the forest, and into a open wide plain, which was covered in snow. Next to the plain was a deep slope, more like a cliff, which was covered in snow, and a little ice crusting on the edges of the place.

"What my brother is doing is wrong!" She shouted, her obvious hate for her brother's plans, well, obviously shown in her facial features.

"And… and I'll too! Stay back, Fon Master!" Arietta shouted as she pulled out her doll to cover her face. Ion stood there, about to walk forward, but Anise stopped him.

"Ion! There's no need to tell Gloomietta!" She shouted. Arietta looked at her, with confusion. And it was someone else that she froze at.

Lina's face.

"So, its you." Was all she said. Arietta started to shake at the venom she had felt in the normally warm voice of Lina Feldesca.

"You."

* * *

Me: Hi.

Luke: What is it?

Me: I dunno.

Luke: Whatev's. She doesn't own ToA. Please, for the sake of nothing, don't review like you've been forced to. Review if you wish.

Me: Bye.

Replica Me: And bye from me!

Jade: Who let you go?

Replica Me: ....


	28. Part 28: Three Against One

**Part 28 Three Against One**

"You."

Everyone looked at her face. Faster and faster. Redder and redder. Even in the coldness of Mt. Roneal, red didn't mean anything good. All Arietta could do was watch, as she shook in fear. Legretta and Largo just stood there, their guard down as they watched her, along with the others.

"Die." She growled out in a deadly tone.

She jumped into the air, summoning her mace from her gloves. She angled herself before falling back down, her mace angled towards Arietta. At this, Legretta took out her guns and Largo held his scythe in an attack position. Luke had taken out his sword, Jade, his spear. Guy, who had already had his sword out was running, and Tear was already casting. Anise had pushed Ion backwards, who had pushed Sync backwards, at the enlargement of Tokunaga. So, Sync was out of this one. But it was a good thing.

Ion had managed to hide his head.

"Lina! What's wrong?" Luke asked, as he did a 'Fang Blade Havoc'. Lina's face was just as red as the tips of Asch's hair now. And that was seriously red.

"Die, you attempted murderer!" She shouted. Her mace had just made contact with Arietta's head, as she did a simple 'Gale Force'. And she was knocked out. Physics at work for you.

"Thunder Blade!" Was the next voice you could hear, several seconds after Lina's loud and clear declaration.

Apparently, her loud and clear demanding voice was enough to trigger a slight avalanche, which Jade had moved faster, with the use of a fonic arte.

And then all of the sudden you could hear screaming Oracle Knights.

"Whoa! Jade, what the hell are you doing?" Luke shrieked out as he saw swords, helms and shoes come out of the humungous snowball, which was basically the avalanche.

"Everyone come here!" Tear shouted. Everyone ran in her direction, as she sung the fonic hymn she had sung before. Force Field. Otherwise known as the second fonic hymn (?).

And then the mist cleared.

* * *

"Phew, we all made it on time." Guy breathed out. Everyone looked around, until Mieu popped out of inbetween Realai and Tear.

"Master's missing! Lina's missing!" He squeaked out. Everyone did an anime fall as they looked only a few feet ahead of them, where they saw red hair poke out of the snow.

"Made it on time, you wish!" He exclaimed. And it was silent for the next few minutes. There was no sign of our 'favorite hot headed' Duchess.

"Could it be possible…?" Tear breathed out, looking down the ledge. It could've been possible. Luke, Guy, Tear, Mieu, Anise, Ion and Sync all looked down. Basically everyone apart from Jade and Realai.

"Why aren't you two sad? She's dead, isn't she?" Guy exclaimed, trying to hide his sadness. Jade laughed at his reaction. The rest of the group, apart from Realai looked partly confused, partly offended.

"No, not really. She wouldn't be happy if she saw us mourning. She would've thought it was necessary." Jade said, shrugging, while Realai nodded along with him. The rest of the group's faces went from offended to a slight happiness.

"Yeah." Luke muttered out as he finally managed to get himself out of the snow. They all started to walk down the path on their left, the only path there was that went in any other direction other than back. As they walked down, they looked down the cliff, flashing the cliff sad looks every now and then.

As they got closer down the path, they heard something.

Like someone was panting.

"Do you hear that?" Tear asked, a little nervous. She really didn't want to go down there. But Luke smiled at her, trying to cheer her up a little.

"C'mon, Tear. There aren't any ghosts here." He said simply as they kept walking. At first glance, there was just the door. The door to the Sephiroth, but when they walked a little further they saw someone leaning in the corner of the seal, and the stone foundation.

* * *

The person was leaning on the foundation, bleeding. You could see the blood from the wounds that the person had land on the snow. Everyone started to run.

"Oh shit…" The person groaned out.

And they saw Lina leaning on the door, breathing raggedly for almost dear life.

"You ok?" Luke asked as Tear healed her. Lina nodded, smiling weakly. She lifted her arm weakly as she opened it, doing the same for the other arm. In her hands was the Time Travelling Girl doll, and a small locket.

"I managed to steal the doll from Arietta, and pull off a locket from someone's neck." She forced out as she stood up. Tear had started to work on the injury that was current on her head.

"How did you survive?" Anise, Ion and Sync asked simultaneously. She laughed.

"The God Generals and I did a little duel. The deal was…" She replied as she laughed a little.

_Flashback (we haven't had those in a while!)_

_They were falling. Arietta the Wild, Legretta the Quick and Largo the Black Lion. Along with Lina, who had just so happen to fall with them._

"_Time to activate Plan B." Largo shouted. Legretta and Arietta assumed group positions. But all Lina did was smirk._

"_Time to activate emergency arte. Eternal Force!" Lina shouted. They were all stopped. There was an invisible force underneath them, which basically gave them a place to stand. Right in the middle of free falling._

"_Ah aah. Don't think you're going free." Lina said, as she saw the three God Generals try to call of reinforcements._

"_What do you mean?" Legretta asked. Largo looked down at the invisible barrier like floor underneath them._

"_You can't mean… this is…" Largo mumbled. But, due to the fact that the place was eerily quiet, Lina heard him._

"_Yup. Only one team comes out free. And I control this. I'll make you a deal. Beat me, and I'll let you go, and as an added bonus, I'll free fall to my death. If I beat you, this force will go, and you'll free fall to your deaths." Lina said. The three looked among themselves before Arietta whistled. As she whistled, thee ligers appeared, but they couldn't get in. They were bashing, what seemed to be nothing._

"_Remember? I control this. We're in an invisible cage. No force can break it. So, you'll agree to my condition, yes?" She asked. Legretta looked at the two before nodding, taking out her guns._

"_Have it your way then."_

"So are they really dead?" Anise asked. Tear looked down the cliff as she frown and looked quite a bit saddened. Lina nodded somewhat solemnly. Somewhat.

"Well, probably. They free fell to their deaths. Would you like the rundown on how the battle happened?" She asked. Tear was especially interested. Yes, it pained her, but she was just curious on what had beaten her instructor.

* * *

_Flashback (…again)_

"_Start!" Lina shouted. Legretta had started to shoot, while Arietta had started to cast. Largo had started to walk up towards her._

_And what did she do?_

_She stood there, waiting for Largo._

"_Éclair de Larmes!" Legretta shouted. Lina jumped up, quite high as she saw Largo and his huge scythe right next to where the spell had hit._

"_Icy Scale!" Lina shouted. Her mace came out and immediately froze over before she jumped down, landing a direct hit. And as an added bonus, he was frozen, despite his fire affinity._

"_Negative Gate!" Arietta shouted. And as Lina fell back down, the Negative Gate caught her. But she wasn't screaming. Because if she did, the others would kind of notice where she was. Legretta laughed a little._

"_You stupid woman. You think you can beat the three of us-" She was about to finish when she saw stars surrounding her body. Rainbow coloured for that fact._

"_Starlight Explosion!" Lina shouted. One, Legretta, Largo nor Arietta noticed that her Overlimit had activated immediately after the Negative Gate spell was finished. And two, they didn't notice her cast._

"_And let purify us all together, Justice's Tear!" She shouted, as the stars started to disappear into her body, regaining health, and raising her stats. Exactly like Tear's Holy Song._

_This was a technique that she had learnt backstage, during the Abyssman performance. Apparently, one of the costumers was a Seventh Fonist, and helped her learn the extension to her Mystic Arte._

"_Holy Lance!" Legretta shouted. Lina did a backflip and managed to avoid the lances of light while watching Largo slowly melt. As she did, she ran towards Arietta and pulled something out of her pocket, that she saw loosely hanging. But she didn't have time to fight back._

_And also while she was free running, she saw a locket on the ground, which must've come off during her Mystic Arte. So technically, she did pull it off someone's neck, she thought as she picked it up._

"_Thunder Lance!" Lina shouted. It had hit Legretta, who was just about to point her guns in her direction. And she was gone, since she was, actually, they all were a little too weak from the last battle. Actually, Arietta was already huffing and puffing, and Largo was at time using his scythe like a walking stick._

"_Brimstone Tempest!" Largo shouted, making Lina shriek. Literally. Though, she had managed to avoid Arietta's Evil Light, just._

"_O ravaging elements come to me and abide to my power! Elemental Burst!" Lina shouted. Largo was out of the count. The forces of the Six Fonons had hit him hard in the chest. She would've been surprised if he had survived that._

"_You!" Lina shouted, purposefully keeping her alive. Arietta stood there, panting as she freaked out a little._

"_What did I do?" Arietta shouted. Lina stood there, glaring holes at the front of her face._

"_What else? Attempted to kill me with your ligers!" Lina shouted. Arietta stood there, shaking._

"_I did-" But Lina didn't let her speak._

"_For the Score I know. But you don't know this. Fon Master Ion died. He died two years ago. What you see is a replica. Re-pu-ri-ca!" She said, in a teasing tone. Arietta's face looked at Lina's seriously, before shouting._

"_You're LYING!" She shouted. Lina laughed._

"_Lying? Am I? Well, have you realized why you were replaced by Anise? Have you realized that Sync sounded like Ion? It was because they are Ion's replicas." She said seriously. Arietta's face was now screwed up. She walked backwards, falling down the cliff. Lina had JUST deactivated the force that was operating for the sides as she pushed the force upwards, making her fly up Legretta and Largo falling through the somewhat porous material and pushing her right into the corner of the Sephiroth door, her head bleeding.

* * *

_

"So, she knows the truth?" Ion said. Sync looked at the two curious. But he decided not to ask, fearing for something bad or something strange to come out of him. Him being Ion, of course.

"Yeah. I told her without thinking, sorry." She said, giving the group a sheepish smile. The group just shook their heads and smiled, apart from our favorite emotionless Jade.

"Well, I don't think it matters." Realai said as she healed her sister's head. Surprisingly, she was the only person to inherit her mother's gift for the use of the Seventh Fonon. Tear was also helping her, since the wound in her head wasn't the average crack that could happen from battle.

"So, she attempted to kill you?" Anise said, sighing. She wasn't really the person not to be surprised about it.

"Well, I didn't know until she confirmed it herself. But I need to ask one more person and then I'll get it." She said as she stood up from her slouching position. The rest nodded.

"Well then, now that ordeal is now over, let's open the door. Fon Master, please do the honors." Jade said, smiling freakily. The rest of the group shuddered as Ion opened the door to the Sephiroth, their last.

They walked in to find themselves in a normal passage ring. There was really nothing wrong with the place. The only difference was that the place was blue, showing some signs of the Fourth Fonon (?). Tear walked up towards the podium with the control panels.

She winced when she felt the contaminated Seventh Fonons enter her body. But it wasn't as bad as before, without the medicine.

But there was something wrong.

"Oh shit!" Lina shouted, for almost the second time in the past two and a half-ish hours.

* * *

Me: I'm on a roll!

Replica Me: Seriously? You've been busy you know, with exams and all.

Me: But at least I'M TRYING!

Luke: Cut it out you two!

Me: Where have you been? I haven't seen you for a while. At least a chapter.

Luke: Well, I've been working on something as well.

Replica Me: Remember, you put everyone on charity work.

Me: Oh yeah. And Jade refused, and stayed.

Jade: Yes, that's exactly what happened.

Tear: She doesn't own ToA. Review 'cause I know you feel like it!

Me: You?

Tear: ///////

Me: I see.


	29. Part 29: Casino Capers

**Part 29 Casino Capers**

The memory particles from the Sephiroth did something a little different. The memory particles that was supposed to be released we're doing the exact opposite. Everything was crashing down, literally.

"You really did it, General Grants." Jade said. The rest of the group was panicking at his thoughtful face, one expression that they rarely saw. Lina was more concerned at why this actually happened.

"Luke." She said. Luke's head jerked over to her direction of sight.

"Yes?" He asked, as casually as one could be at the time.

"Have you had any connections with Asch in the past few hours?" She asked. Luke looked at her seriously, before jumping into a deep thought. A few extremely long seconds passed when he finally answered, his face pale with aghast.

"How did you know that I had a connection with Asch during the avalanche?" He asked. Everyone looked at the two, curious. The tension of the Sephiroths passage ring just got higher and higher.

"I saw you grasp your head in pain as I fell down the cliff." She said simply as she ran back. The rest of the group looked at her confused.

"And I would presume Van told you he was at the Absorption Gate?" She shouted. Luke stared at her stupidly as he unconsciously nodded. The rest of the group stared as stupidly at the two before running in Lina's direction, outside the Sephiroth. Guy was carrying Ion, since he knew that he could no longer run.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but we won't be able to go to the Absorption Gate for about two days." Noelle replied as she frowned. Apparently there were going to be snow storms for the next two days straight up really high, so it didn't affect the towns. Something to do with the Planet Storm going a little nut-so.

"So, Lina, how did you know that Asch told me that Master Van was at the Absorption Gate?" Luke asked. "Actually, what IS the Absorption Gate?" He asked again. Everyone did an anime fall simultaneously as he scratched his head.

And THEN finally someone bothered to answer him, after a few moments silence later, later figured out as a mental debate on who was to tell him.

"You know what the Planet Storm is, right?" Tear asked, trying to make her explanation as simple as possible. Luke nodded.

"It's that thing in the sky that keeps producing Seventh Fonons, right?" He asked. Tear nodded.

"The Planet Storm starts and ends at two points of the world. One, at the top is called the Absorption Gate. This creates and is the beginning of the Planet Storm. The place where the Planet Storm ends is at the bottom of the world, a place called the Radiation Gate." Tear explained. Luke nodded, but something came to mind as he was nodding.

"So, where is the Absorption Gate?" He asked.

"The Absorption Gate is on an island northeast of Keterburg. And if you're curious, the Radiation Gate is towards the southwest of Baticul." Tear explained again. Anise wasn't really paying attention to the group however. She had JUST heard of the casino in town, which the group tried their very hardest to hide from her.

"Can we go to the casino NOW?" Anise moaned and groaned out. Lina sighed as she nodded.

"Whatever floats your boat." She replied, sighing. It wasn't her to give up, but if she was to suffer a few more days in the town, why not let her go. The rest of the group stood up from Ion's room (the one they booked and paid for, for two days) and walked out the door, Ion and Sync staying behind for obvious reasons.

* * *

"Whoa! THIS is the casino? Cool!" Luke as he walked in and as the others walked in.

Lina slapped her forehead at his admiration of the famous casino.

Jade smirked (you could literally see the amusement written on his face) at his reaction, while the others had mixed emotions.

Tear looked at the place nervously, occasionally twitching.

Natalia looked just as uncomfortable as Tear. She was twitching, mainly at the gaudiness of the place.

Guy was the only person to actually LOOK normal. Well, Jade did too, but then he normally had a passive face, blank slate on his face, with the occasional smirk. But other than that, Guy was the only one that looked normal.

And Anise? Well, she had money bags for eyes, her mouth was frothing with want and she was itching to start to play.

"This place is certainly… lovely in its own way…" Tear said, as she walked down the stairs.

"I've heard of this place, but it makes me feel weird, and entirely out of… place." Natalia said, as the follow up. The place was gaudy compared to any other normal casino. With the loud music, the slot machines and the bunny girls. To Tear and Natalia, the bunny girls especially.

"This place has a myth around it. Apparently if you get a jackpot on the second slot machine to the left, you win a castle." Guy said as he sighed. Halfway through his sentence Anise had (you could literally see the exclamation bubble above her head) ran off presumably to get some chips.

"That's obviously a lie to attract more customers." Guy said as an afterthought.

After a while, the rest of the group walked down the stairs, to find Anise shouting and pouting, mainly.

"Anise! What's wrong? There are people staring at you!" Tear whispered out, though it came out rather coarsely.

"They said that they don't let minors play. Booooo." Anise whined. The rest of the group sighed. They had forgotten that they didn't let minors play. They just… forgot.

"Oh don't worry about that. I'm sure they'll let you play if you had a parent. What about Jade? Or Lina?" He suggested, purposely omitting his name out of the equation. Anise giggled, and partially smirked at the thought. It was her chance to shine.

"Papa? Could I please get my allowance? Pretty please?" Anise begged, giving Jade the puppy-eye-I'm-trying-to-look-innocent-look. Lina swore that she could've burst out laughing right there. And the rest of the group looked at Anise's determination a little worried for Anise's mental health. But Jade kept his cool and smirked.

"I'm afraid not." He said in a playful tone, with the matching smirk. Anise yet again pouted, but recovered quickly as she skipped over to Lina, who just stood there, trying her best to hold her emotions in.

"Then Lina! Could you go get me some chips, please?" She begged. Lina could no longer hold her emotions, and started to burst out, laughing.

"Now this is something I'm gonna remember." She huffed out in between her laughs. Anise stood there, confused. And then she got it.

And she gave up on trying to coax Lina into getting her chips, as Tear directed her out, giggling herself.

"Then Guy? Go get me some chips." She ordered, giving up on the begging. Guy jumped a few feet backwards, at her presence.

"Uwahhh!" He shouted, as a reflex.

"Tch… That's right… My cute looks don't work on Guy."

And they all left the casino, Anise empty-handed.

* * *

It was the night of the first day of their 'test of patience'. Luke was in his room with Guy, his appointed roommate. Those two, and Anise and Ion were the only two pairs that shared rooms. Everyone else had individual rooms, excluding Lina. She had a room at the Governor's residence, since there weren't any more rooms at the hotel, and Nephry just so happened to be around.

Concerning matters on Nephry…

She was at Keterburg about three days a week, mainly Remday, Sylphday and Loreleiday. The rest of the time, she was at Grand Chokmah. I mean, she still had her job as the governor of Keterburg. And it just so happened to be Sylphday.

And then there was a knock at the door, at the room she was going to rest in for the two nights.

"Yes?" She asked. The door swung open, Nephry walking in with a few sheets of paper.

"My brother just stopped by and told me to give you these notes. He said to 'complete them and then give them back'." Nephry said, as Lina took the pile of notes from her.

They were the ones that she wrote the last time she was at Keterburg.

So she had planned to leave the next morning, alone.

* * *

The group was currently at the hotel, their rendezvous point with Lina. But she never turned up. Just as Luke was about to run to the governor's residence, Nephry came running in, holding a piece of paper. She was huffing and puffing, as Jade took it off her.

"She disappeared sometime this morning, apparently six in the morning, according to one of the maids." She said, after she caught her breath. The rest of the group peeked behind Jade's standing form. They recognized Lina's loopy handwriting almost instantly.

_Nephry,_

_Sorry about this, but I've left. Don't worry about it. I'll be back by around night time. If you do happen to find this, tell the others that I'm sorry about not meeting at the rendezvous point. And Jade, if you just so happen to read this, I'm at A. I. I'm pretty sure you should be able to decode that._

_Lina_

"First she promises to meet at the hotel, and then leaves for a random place called A. I.?" Luke asked, exasperated. Jade shrugged as she handed the note back to Nephry.

"I don't know any place called A. I. But I'm pretty sure she's safe, where ever she is." Jade said, in a somewhat freaky assuring tone. Everyone else nodded, and sat down on the couches, which just so happened to be conveniently placed there.

"…Hang on. We could've left for the Absorption Gate yesterday…" Tear pointed out. Luke nodded in an agreement.

"Well, she knew where the place was, it's specific placing. So, why didn't she send us there yesterday?" Luke asked the group. It was all silent for a few minutes, but then Jade responded.

"Remember? The Planet Storm starts from the Absorption Gate. The Absorption Gate contains a large mass of memory particles, and could also have a large amount of Seventh Fonons. Lina would probably suffer in there, especially if she teleported, since the weakness of her teleporting is that her fon slots open temporarily. Which means…" Jade trailed off on purpose. He didn't want to explain the whole situation.

"Guy, please continue." He finally said. Guy sat there looking at Jade with wide eyes, and a shocked look on his face.

"Me? ….Oh alright." He said, giving in.

"When one's fon slots are opened, the power of their fonic artes are drastically lowered, making them vulnerable, since it also makes her weak, and tired. Lina already knows this, and already knows the consequences if she is attacked immediately after, or during the teleportation. The more people she had to take, the weaker, and the more time it takes for her to recover. Basically, she takes the risk of teleporting, knowing that she could die any moment. But since she is going into a place with flowing memory particles, and possible Seventh Fonons, she could absorb too many Seventh Fonons." Guy concluded. Luke sat there absorbing the information until he noticed something.

"Doesn't Lina have her mark, which lets her release the fonons a lot faster than normal?"

"If she's absorbing them faster than that, she'll be accumulating Seventh Fonons anyways." Guy said, as both an afterthought, and somehow predicting Luke's question.

"And one more thing… Jade, you're awfully suspicious… do you know where, and why Lina is somewhere else?" Luke asked. The whole group, who were at their difference conversations the moment Guy started to explain had stopped their conversations and looked at Jade, with some sort of hope of any answers.

Jade pushed his glasses up as he sighed.

"I truly have no idea." He said, putting his hands up in a fake mercy.

He was lying anyways.

* * *

Me: Hi!

Luke: What is it now?

Me: Nothing. Just speedrunning ToA. But try at your own risk. But then I'm kinda bad at ToA. So, yeah...

Luke: Eh?

Me: Nothing.

Karol (from ToV): She doesn't own ToA, ToV or any unknown references in this chapter. Reviews, please?

Me: What the HECK are you doing here?

Karol: I dunno. Yuri said that he would get Raven to shut up if I did a disclaimer.

Me: I see...


End file.
